Treasure
by Sophdeloaf
Summary: Beth was a normal human girl...three years ago. Now a Baggins, she joins Thorin in his quest to reclaim his home, and maybe find one for her while she's at it. Thorin/OC. A little Mary-Sueish. Now fully edited XD
1. Suddenly Dwarves

Three years ago, Beth had died.

Three years ago, Beth had been a human girl living in New York. On this day, she was a hobbit who lived with one Bilbo Baggins. But three years ago on this day, Bilbo found Beth confused and tattered on his way home from one walking vacation to Brie. And though her story had seemed queer (and to this day Bilbo is still quite unsure if the girl is entirely sane or not) and though her clothes were strange to him, he decided to help the strange hobbit in need. For three years, even though she was not even in her original body, Beth thrived in the environment of the Shire.

So when Beth finished her shift at The Green Dragon, she did her best to rush home to Bag End where she knew Bilbo would be waiting. Her blonde waves bounced behind her as she hurriedly untied it from its confines and her dress swished between her legs, causing the girl to stumble occasionally. And though she had expected Bilbo to celebrate with her, she had hardly expected a party; much less a party of dwarves.

The first thing she noticed even before being able to see the little green door of the hobbit hole was the great noise coming from behind it. So her logical conclusion was that Bilbo had in fact thrown a party for her. This was odd for Bilbo, she thought, but sweet nonetheless. Then she saw the ponies. She counted fifteen of the creatures tied up to the fence around Bilbo's garden. Bilbo's prize garden. That the ponies were eating.

Mild alarm came over her when she finally saw the glowing mark on the door. It reminded her of a Viking rune from her old world and gave her pause, debating on going in or not. The laughter comforted her enough that this was at least a pleasant gathering and she decided there could be no harm in going into her own home. Quietly opening the door and slipping in, Beth could feel her jaw go slack at the sight laid before her. Dwarves. Everywhere. Also a tall man in grey robes and poor, dear Bilbo sputtering in an attempt to stop them.

Beth slowly made her way over to Bilbo, scanning the scene to take in every detail and every dwarf in the vicinity. No one had noticed her by the time she made it over to her adoptive brother, not even Bilbo himself. When she went to place a hand on his shoulder, he jumped (quite comically) and spun around, relaxing as soon as he noted who it was.

"Oh thank goodness!" he cried, "there you are!"

"Bilbo…what's going on?" She asked.

His face took on an alarming flush as he indignantly began. "These…these dwarves just started showing up! And now they're eating us out of house and home!"

Beth stared at the scene dumbfounded. She knew that there were other non-human creatures that lived in her new home, but she had never met a dwarf before. They were hairy and stocky and carrying huge amounts of food out of the pantry. They were drinking and cheering and burping and getting food absolutely _everywhere. _As she was unabashedly staring at the party, she noticed the tall man in the grey making his way over to their position.

"Bilbo," he addressed, "would you care to introduce me to this lovely young hobbit? I don't believe we've met."

"Oh, oh yes of course!" he said, ashamed of his manners in the moment of distraction. "Gandalf, this is Beth, my sister. And Beth, this is Gandalf, the wandering wizard. This is who's responsible for all the dwarves."

The wizard in question inclined his head in greeting. "It is lovely to meet you Miss Beth. Bilbo, I do not recall you having any siblings!"

"Adopted," interrupted Beth. "Mister Gandalf, might I ask what the meaning of this is?"

Beth mentally chided herself for allowing her more brutish human manners to show through in her annoyance. It hadn't taken her long to figure out the woman's roll in this new world and did her best to conceal her ever questioning, independent nature to strange company. Though not always well enough, apparently. The wizard studied her a moment but did not get a chance to answer before a rather young looking dwarf interrupted their conversation.

"Excuse me, I'm sorry to interrupt but what should I do with my plate?"

Beth was about to answer kindly, pleasantly surprised by his manners when another dwarf took the plate from him saying, "Here you go, Ori, give it to me," before casually tossing it across the room to another dwarf.

Beth gasped involuntarily and shifted her gaze to Bilbo, who she knew would be freaking out right at this very moment. She knew first-hand how protective he was of his mother's antique dishes and, to be fair, they were an awfully nice set.

"Excuse me!" Bilbo squeaked, "that's my mother's West Farthing crockery. It's over one hundred years old!" This seemed to only encourage the dwarves more, causing them to rhythmically start stomping and banging on the table with their cutlery. "And can-can you not do that! You'll blunt them!"

"Ohh, d'yeah hear that, lads?" called out the dwarf with the funky hat, "he says we'll blunt the knives!"

And then the singing happened.

_Blunt the knives, bend the forks_

_Smash the bottles and burn the corks_

_Chip the glasses and crack the plates_

_That's what Bilbo Baggins hates!_

_Cut the cloth and tread on the fat_

_Leave the bones on the bedroom mat_

_Pour the milk on the pantry floor_

_Splash the wine on every door_

_Dump the cracks in a boiling bowl_

_Pound them up with a thumping pole_

_When you've finished, if any are whole_

_Send them down the hall to roll_

_That's what Bilbo Baggins hates!_

Beth was caught somewhere between enjoying the spectacle and having her own heart attack. But by the last chorus, all the dirty dishes had been cleaned and stacked and all of the dwarves were laughing merrily at the expense of poor Bilbo and the look on his face. The cheer in the room was suddenly curbed at the sound of a knock on the door.

"He is here," announced Gandalf gravely.

"Who?" questioned Bilbo, "Who's here?"

"I guess we're about to find out," muttered Beth under her breath.

They weren't able to see who came in right away on account of the dwarves crowding the front hall but when the crowd parted, Beth sucked in a sharp breath through her nose. She may not have known who that dwarf man was, but she could not deny the very air around him was charged and powerful. She also could not deny that he was in fact very hansom.

"Gandalf, I thought you said this place would be easy to find," the dwarf said in ways of greeting. "Lost my way, twice. Wouldn't have found it at all had it not been for the mark on the door."

Guessing by Bilbo's next outburst, Beth gathered that he had not seen the glowing rune on the door yet. "Mark? There's no mark on that door, it was painted a week ago!"

"There is a mark; I put it there myself," stated Gandalf. "Bilbo and Beth Baggins, allow me to introduce you to the leader of our company, Thorin Oakenshield. Thorin, Bilbo is to be your burglar."

Thorin's eyes barley glanced over Beth before he began to size up her brother beside her. "So this is the hobbit. Tell me, Mr. Baggins, have you done much fighting?"

Beth's eye brows shot up as she looked between Thorin and Gandalf. What exactly did they expect Bilbo to do for them?

Bilbo himself squeaked out a, "Pardon me?"

"Axe or sword, what's your weapon of choice?"

"Well, I have some skill at Conkers if you must know, but I fail to see why that's relevant," he trailed off.

"Thought as much," Thorin stated haughtily. "He looks more like a grocer than a burglar."

Beth fixed Thorin with a heated glare as the company laughed and moved back to sit at the dining table. Gandalf caught her attention as she was glaring after them.

"Beth, my dear, would you mind getting Thorin something to eat? I'm sure he's famished from his long journey."

Nodding curtly, Beth made her way to the kitchen and found some leftover stew she made for them yesterday untouched where she stored it. She set about warming it, spitting in it for good measure and finding a heel of bread to go with it before handing it to Bilbo.

She then opted to stay out of sight, just around the corner to listen in on their conversation. She managed to stay silent and resist the urge to spy until she heard a solid thump after one of the dwarves (_probably the one with the hat_, she thought) taunted Bilbo with facing a dragon. His supposed task in this quest.

Beth flew from her hiding spot to kneel by her brother to check on his status. "Helpful," she growled, scowling at the table of dwarves.

None offered their help as the hobbit woman dragged her brother off and into his favourite arm chair. Still, all had acknowledged the strength she must have had to pick up another of the same size and were reminded of their dwarven women back home.

Nori snickered as the woman disappeared into the other room. "Maybe we should bring the lass instead."

Their laughter was interrupted by a female voice. "What about as well?"

None of the dwarves heard the girl re-enter the room and were all slightly startled to find her not two meters away. But before any of the dwarves had the chance to even briefly contemplate her suggestion, Thorin shut her down. "Absolutely not."

"Any why ever not?" She demanded, bristling.

"I will not bring a woman on a dangerous quest."

And before she could stop herself again, her usual brashness made its appearance. "You're going to deny potential help because I have a vagina?" Once again mentally chiding herself (for her language, at least) she stood her ground as some of the dwarves guffawed and some sent a scolding look her way. But before the actual scolding could begin, she jumped at the opportune stunned silence to sell herself. "I can build a fire in the rain, and identify a large number of wild roots, berries, and edible plants. I'm quiet. So quiet that none of you lot noticed me enter the room until I spoke. And correct me if I'm wrong, but none of you noticed me listening to your entire conversation from the other room earlier. I certainly hoped none of you thought it was a coincidence that I knew to come in just as Bilbo dropped."

Gandalf spoke up before anyone (Thorin in particular, judging by the look on his face) had the chance to shoot her down again. "It could be a good idea, Thorin. Miss Baggins does not seem to be an ordinary hobbit. Or an ordinary woman for that matter."

The gleam in his eyes slightly worried Beth. She hoped he hadn't figured anything out. The only other person who knew her secret was Bilbo, who was still coming to terms with it himself. She could only imagine the trouble it could cause.

Thorin shot Gandalf a glare before turning to Beth to size her up. She stood with her back straight in a strong stance and, much to Thorin's amusement, looked him straight in the eye. He had to admit, the girl had gall and determination.

"Very well, but only if Mr. Baggins also accompanies us. You will be his burden alone."

Beth scowled but decided it best not to push her luck.

"Actually, I might be hers," Bilbo stated from behind her. He caught the worried question on her face and smiled at the cup of tea in his hand. "I'm alright," he said, answering her unasked question of well-being. He then added, "We have to talk."

The company seemed to be in tune with Bilbo's intention and in that moment got up to shuffle off into the sitting room, leaving Beth alone with Bilbo. He gestured for her to sit and waited until she settled in before stating, "We can't go."

"Why?" she demanded.

"It's too dangerous, Beth. One of us could get hurt. Or die!"

She snorted. "You say that like it hasn't happened already."

He stiffened and sighed in response. "You know how much you've come to mean to me, Beth."

Beth felt her stomach sink. She did know how much she meant to Bilbo because Bilbo had also come to be her family in the time they had been together. "I…I know. Bilbo, you truly have become the brother I never had. And I love you, but I keep thinking that maybe there's a reason I'm here. Maybe there's a reason I've been given a second life. Maybe this wasn't just some random event in the universe."

Bilbo frowned, not knowing how to answer. Instead, the pair listened to the haunting melody coming from the room over. Bilbo stood, stating he was going to bed and left. Beth quietly slipped into the corner of the sitting room unseen and watched as the dwarves sang of their lost home. This, she had decided in that moment, was why she was here. She lost her life and home so that she could help thousands of others regain theirs.

Only Thorin noticed her slip out.


	2. The First Leg

Before the crack of dawn, Beth could hear hushed shuffling echoing around the hobbit hole. Being a light sleeper, she got up, slipping on her robe to peer out. The dwarves were packing up and cleaning (much to her surprise and pleasure), unaware of her seeing them. She spotted Gandalf near the front door and snuck over to him.

"They're not waiting for us," she stated, startling the wizard.

Gandalf turned and couldn't help but smile at the girl's sneakiness. "Bilbo told us that you two had no interest in joining this quest."

Beth frowned and looked up to Gandalf, pure determination etched onto her face. "I promise you we'll come. I can convince him."

Gandalf nodded, quite believing the little lady and handed her the contract. "Make sure you've both signed."

Beth nodded and shot off to pack and dress and figure out just how she was going to convince Bilbo to come along. She found her brown slacks for when she would help Bilbo in his garden as well as a light cotton shirt and a sturdy green vest with splendid silver buttons.

She threw a small amount of extra clothing into her pack as well as a few very basic hygiene products and ran off to pack Bilbo's bag for him as well. Before long (but after the dwarves had left) Beth had both packs with provisions set out in the sitting room with the contract laid out on display in plain sight with her signature already on it.

She then proceeded to make a small breakfast for the two using what little the dwarves had left and what was left from packing. Thinking on it as she cooked, it was likely a good thing the dwarves had used up all the food before they left for such a long journey.

Soon after, Bilbo was roused from his sleep by the smell of cooking and stumbled out of his bedroom. He found Beth sitting at the table chewing on some toast in a perfectly clean house. Then, in the corner of his eye he saw the set-up she left him in the sitting room.

* * *

"It's a real shame they didn't come along," lamented Kili. "The girl was very pretty."

Fili laughed at his little brother's comment. "Aye, I think that's something we can all agree on. A woman with sunlight in her hair, an ocean in her eyes, and great, big—"

"Have some respect," Thorin cut off his nephew, before turning back to the front.

The brothers smiled slyly at each other. "I think Uncle liked her," snickered Kili.

"Wait! Wait!" cried a voice from behind them. The company was halted and turned to see the two hobbits sprinting after them and all out of breath. Bilbo was waving the contract in the air as Beth was holding her sides, nursing her stitches from running.

"We signed it," Bilbo said, looking pleased with himself.

Balin took the contract and examined it before smiling and announcing, "Everything appears to be in order. Welcome Bilbo and Beth, to the company of Thorin Oakenshield."

"Give them a pony," Grunted Thorin.

"No, no, no, no, that won't be necessary," Bilbo began to protest. "Thank you, but I—I'm sure I can keep up on foot. I—I—I've done my fair share of walking holidays, you know. I even got as far as Frogmorton once—" and then he squawked as the Durin brothers lifted him into the air by his coat and onto his pony. Beth started laughing at him until she too was hoisted up into the air to be seated behind Bilbo and let out and indignant yelp.

The dwarves had a chuckle at the hobbits' expense as both of them looked rather uncomfortable on the pony. With Bilbo holding the reigns like they might turn into snakes at any given moment and Beth sliding back and forth trying to sit straight, the pair made quite the comedic sight.

"Come on Nori, pay up! Go on," called Oin.

Suddenly pouches were being tossed between the dwarves, some of them visibly happier than others.

Bilbo turned to Gandalf to ask, "What's that about?"

"Oh, they took wagers on whether or not you two would turn up," Explained Gandalf. "Most of them bet that you wouldn't."

"What did you think?"

Gandalf made a show of hesitating before reaching up to catch his own winnings. Then with a kindly smile he told him, "Bilbo, I never doubted you for a second. That and your sister vowed to me that she could convince you. She seems like the type to hold true to her promises."

"Which would explain the clever little set-up she presented me in the morning. Well done, Beth, you played me like a fiddle," grumbled Bilbo before he let out a sneeze. He rifled through his pockets before a look of panic worked its way onto his face. "No, wait, wait, stop! Stop! We have to turn around!"

"What on Earth is the matter?" questioned Gandalf.

"I forgot my handkerchief!"

Beth sighed, "You are such a girl sometimes." At this, everyone within earshot started howling with laughter. "It's in your pack. Front right pocket."

Thorin grunted, but almost seemed as amused as the rest of the company. "Move on," he demanded.

Bilbo asked over his shoulder to Beth, "Do you think of everything?"

"Only most of the time," she joked.

* * *

The first night they stopped to make camp in a clearing that provided some shelter. Without being asked, Beth got to work on starting a cook-fire, and having one going before everyone was really settled. She then set up a spot for herself closer to the tree line, but not too far away from the fire. She didn't want to admit it, but Beth was a little anxious about being out in the wild with no knowledge of animals or potential threats. No one commented except for a few to give words of thanks.

And she found that's just how it was the first few days of travel. The dwarves rarely spoke to her or Bilbo so they mostly kept to themselves. It was still a few more days of travel yet until they became more accepted.

* * *

A howl woke her from her sleep, though she did not stir immediately. She could hear Bilbo asking in a frightened tone what had made the sound.

"Orcs," responded Kili.

"Orcs?" Bilbo squeaked.

"Throat cutters," told Fili. "Ther'll be dozens out there. The lowlands are crawling with them."

"They strike in the wee small hours when everyone's asleep. Quick and quiet; no screams, just lots of blood," finished Kili.

Beth could only imagine how scared Bilbo was as she herself could hear her heart pounding in her ears. That is, until the brother started giggling.

"Assholes," she muttered, rolling over on her pallet.

"You think that's funny? You think a night raid by orcs is a joke?" scolded Thorin.

"We didn't mean anything by it," Kili tried to defend.

"No, you didn't. You know nothing of the world."

"Don't mind him, laddie," comforted Balin. "Thorin has more reason than most to hate orcs."

Balin dove into the tale of how Thorin lost his grandfather to the pale orc in the battle for Moria. Beth couldn't help but join the dwarves as they stared at Thorin with reverence as Balin concluded the tale with his declaration of loyalty to his king. He looked all for royalty as he stood, brooding and staring off into the night.

Beth sat up and stretched as the others settled back in, deciding she would not be able to get back to sleep until her heart rate lowered once more. She threw her blanket over a shivering Bilbo and proceeded to scan the camp. The only other awake was Thorin, brooding just where they left him.

Deciding she ought to try being on better terms with their leader, Beth made her way over and sat on the rock Thorin was standing beside. After all, they couldn't continue in silence forever. She curled her legs into herself, although he didn't acknowledge her until she said, "Thank you."

He hesitated a moment before taking the bait. "What for?"

"Letting me come," she answered plainly. "I just…know how it is to lose your home."

He again paused for a moment before answering, as though carefully weighing his words. "I am beginning to think we should have let you come instead of your brother."

Beth laughed quietly and turned to look at him, only to meet his gaze. He really and truly was hansom, she thought. Despite how grumpy he could be. "He'll surprise you," she assured with a smile. Her eyes left his to stare off into the horizon and they stayed that way in companionable silence until the sun began to make its appearance in the east.

* * *

In the few days following that they had been travelling, Beth had managed to charm every single dwarf in the company. Deciding she had had enough of the dour travelling, Beth set forth to make friends of her travelling companions whether they expected it or not. She even attempted to engage Bifur until she was told that the axe in his head indeed did have a side-effect and that he could only speak Kazuhl, although she was assured that he could understand her. She managed to gain Dwalin's respect the night she snatched a dagger Fili was playing with and threw it so it lodged into a tree.

But on this day of traveling in particular, from the very moment they woke up, it had started raining. And it didn't stop. It only rained harder. So when they found a small abandoned cottage, it seemed like a God-send. That is, until Gandalf protested against staying. And Gandalf's reluctance set Beth very much on edge herself.

"Everything alright?" asked Bilbo. "Gandalf, where are you going?"

"To seek the company of the only one around here that's got any sense."

"Who's that?"

"Myself, Mr. Baggins! I've had enough of dwarves for one day."

Beth opened her mouth to protest but found the wizard too far away to hear her already. Her stomach sank. This could only end badly. Beth's eyes kept darting around camp as they set up their usual layout. She even wanted to protest when they sent Bilbo off to bring stew to Fili and Kili.

And then, just as she had rationalized everything enough to calm down, Fili and Kili burst through the bush to exclaim, "Trolls!"

Beth's heart dropped into her stomach as everyone else sprang up to grab their weapons. This was one of those worst-case-scenarios that her brain would come up with that she would have to tell herself wasn't going to happen and that she was just being irrational. Except it was happening. And Bilbo did not come back with Fili and Kili. Coming back to her senses, she was about to stand up and join them when she felt a large hand on her shoulder.

Looking up, she saw Thorin looking no more worried than he usually did. "Stay and watch the camp."

Beth nodded dumbly and watched them run off into the bush and right into the arms of danger. It took all of thirty seconds after the last dwarf left her sight for her to take off running in the other direction, praying to any and every god that Gandalf hadn't gotten too far and that he was not still so upset he wouldn't come to their aid.

Her lungs were burning by the time she saw the light of his small camp fire and would have cheered if she could do that and run at the same time. She picked up her pace even more and started hollering Gandalf's name, desperately trying to get his attention. Gandalf did in fact see her and stood to stop her mid-sprint. "My dear, whatever is the matter?" he asked.

"Trolls," she gasped. "They left Bilbo with the trolls and told me to stay behind. Gandalf, help."

Not one to waste time, Gandalf whistled for his horse and smothered the fire. He then, without warning grabbed Beth and hoisted her up to sit on the back of the saddle before mounting himself.

"Hold on," he cautioned.

If the situation had been different, say Gandalf was coming to visit their lovely (safe) home in the Shire and this was a (leisurely) gallop through the fields Beth could imagine enjoying the ride very much. She secretly compared it to riding on the back of a motor cycle, even though this was a decidedly bumpier ride.

When Gandalf deemed they were close enough he jumped off the horse and pulled her down swiftly. In a firm voice he said, "Stay here."

Again, she waited for a grand total of thirty seconds of solitude before sprinting off in the direction she had seen the dwarves go earlier. As soon as she could see the flickering light of a fire through the trees she skidded to a halt and quietly crept towards the light. She almost started when she heard Bilbo shout, "Not—not that one! He—he's infected!"

Beth resisted the urge to snort and roll her eyes. _Really, Bilbo? Worms in his tubes?_ She crept closer until she spotted a pile of the weapons the dwarves were carrying…and then the pile of dwarves. At that point she was pretty glad no one had spotted her yet because she was sure the look of confusion and amusement on her face was priceless.

While the dwarves were yelling in offence about their lack of worms (she decided it would be something to giggle about later) she had managed to skirt around the camp unseen and grabbed a couple daggers. She glanced back to the pile of dwarves to find Thorin staring right at her. She pressed a finger to her lips and disappeared again into the shadows of the trees. The closest dwarf to her hiding spot was Nori. She clasped a hand over his mouth to quietly get his attention and when he noticed it was her, he relaxed and nodded. But even before she could saw through the first rope she was startled by a cry of, "I've got parasites as big as my arm!"

Beth hit the floor, praying that the trolls didn't have very good eye sight and that no attention had been attracted to her. This game of hide and seek was getting more dangerous and Beth briefly considered leaving and just letting Gandalf do all the work. But just as quickly as the protesting began, all the dwarves were calling out their claims of the biggest and most plentiful parasites. Beth would have laughed if she wasn't so terrified. She managed to free Nori of his bindings just as Gandalf made his appearance.

"The dawn will take you all!"

"Who's that?"

"No idea."

"Can we eat 'im too?"

Then with a mighty hit from his staff, the boulder split in half and right before their eyes the trolls writhed in agony for a few seconds before turning to stone. There was a moment of relieved silence before Beth called out, "Took you long enough!"

Gandalf smiled and with that same odd (almost alarming) twinkle in his eye said, "I thought I told you to stay."

"I thought I said the same thing," grumbled Thorin from his spot in the pile.

Beth made her way over to him and cut him loose from his (gross, smelly) sack. She then promptly handed him the knife and without breaking eye contact stated, "I'm not a dog. I do not stay."


	3. Titles

Beth opted to stay out of the troll cave, the smell making her stomach churn even though there was nothing at all in it. She wondered if they were planning on feeding themselves any time soon. Or sleeping for that matter. In fact, she was rather exhausted from chasing down Gandalf all night. In the meanwhile Fili and Kili kept her company, trying to play off their capture as more of an epic struggle than it probably was.

Beth held up a hand to stop their embellished story before they embarrassed themselves further. She was planning on doing it for them. "While I'm sure what I didn't witness was spectacular, all I managed to see from my arrival was you lot yelling about how big your worms are."

Their laughter was cut short by a figure bursting through the brush, screaming, "Thieves! Fire! Murder!"

The company had jumped into action, pulling out their weapons until Gandalf jumped in. "Radagast!" called Gandalf. "Radagast the brown. What you are doing here?"

The brown wizard was about to dismiss the company to tell Gandalf the important news when he caught a sight of Beth. "Gandalf," he asked, "Where did you get her?"

All eyes fell onto the hobbit woman as she shrank, willing herself to be as small and invisible as possible. There was no way he could have known anything just from one glance. Then again, she admittedly didn't know the extent of what a wizard could and could not do.

"In the Shire," responded Gandalf carefully. "Now what is it you came to tell me?"

The brown wizard seemed to snapp out of a trance and looked at Gandalf with a sudden clarity. The wizards turned to speak privately and Beth slunk over to Bilbo who was struggling to put on his new sword. A look of worry passed between them as Beth offered her help. She couldn't help but notice the shifting stares and curious glances out of the corner of her eyes.

And then to make matters worse a warg scout attacked.

* * *

The stitch in her side was unbearable, and the moment she flung herself into the cave she simply could not find the strength to get back up again. The last dwarves dropping in had to jump over her and she couldn't even find the strength to complain when Kili kicked her arm. The body of an orc falling beside her was enough motivation to scramble back, however.

Thorin ripped the arrow out of the offending body and spat, "Elves."

Beth wondered what on earth could be the matter with elves. For all the things she had heard about the species of Middle Earth, they were supposed to be a wise, wonderful race. There wasn't much time to dwell on Thorin's reaction before Dwalin called out, "I cannot see where the path ends. Do we follow it?"

"Follow it, of course!" exclaimed Bofur in response.

"I think that would be wise," agreed Gandalf.

By the time they all managed to squeeze through (some doing more squeezing than others) and come to a cliff, Beth gasped at the sight that met them.

"The Valley of Imaldris," announced Gandalf. "In the common tongue it is known by another name."

"Rivendell," Bilbo whispered in reverence.

It suddenly clicked for Beth exactly what they were looking at. For all of Bilbo's want of home and distaste for adventure, he had always been quite taken by the elves. And looking at the city in front of them now, Beth couldn't think of why anyone wouldn't want to see this. The mere sight of it brought peace to her.

"This was your plan all along, to seek refuge with our enemy," Thorin accused.

"You have no enemies here, Thorin Oakenshield. The only ill-will you will find here is that which you bring yourself."

"You think the elves will give our quest their blessing? They will try and stop us," he spat back.

"Of course they will," replied Gandalf (almost cheerily, noted Beth). "But we have questions that need be answered. If we are to be successful, this will need to be handled with tack and no small degree of charm. Which is why you will leave the talking to me."

Beth let a small laugh slip before offering an apologetic look to Thorin's glare. As they approached the grand city, Beth found her way to walk alongside their leader. "Gandalf is right, you know," she stated, grabbing Thorin's attention. "These are not the elves who did you wrong. Not all elves are the same, just as not all dwarves are the same."

Thorin stared her down. "Nor all hobbits."

That shut Beth up pretty fast and a pink flush settled on her face from being called out. Also nervous from the implications that he could figure out what was strange about her. Though, she noted, her words did seem to relax Thorin if only marginally. As they approached the grand entrance of the city a single elf man came to greet them and spoke to Gandalf as though he knew him in the most beautiful language Beth had ever heard.

She was spacing out from exhaustion until the sound of hooves and a war horn called the dwarves to action. She and Bilbo were shoved unceremoniously into the middle of the pack so that neither of them could see much of anything except for the riders sitting tall on their horses.

Beth couldn't figure out what was happening until she heard Gloin roar, "What is he saying? Does he offer us insult?!"

Gandalf sighed exasperatedly, "No master Gloin, he is offering you food."

Beth did all she could to choke down a laugh when he sheepishly responded, "Ah, well, in that case, lead on."

The dwarves broke formation and for the first time Beth was able to see the Lord Elrond. She found herself in instant respect and awe just from the very air around him. As the rest of the company was being lead off, Beth stopped to curtsy for Lord Elrond before running off behind her brother.

She could feel his eyes on the back of her head the whole way down the hall.

* * *

Elrond watched the girl until she disappeared around a corner and turned to Gandalf. "She is different," he stated to the wizard.

"I thought so as well," replied Gandalf.

"But you do not know how."

"You know if I did, I would have told you."

Elrond hummed and suggested, "Perhaps the Lady Galadriel could enlighten us."

And as though summoned, Galadriel stepped out from behind a hidden corner of her own with a smile on her lips that barley hinted at a sort of mischief.

"Gandalf, you have come upon an absolute treasure. A gift from another world. The King's Council."

The men looked at her with a mixture of shock and worry. "So soon?" questioned Elrond.

"Prophesy comes when it is time for prophesy to come. Never too soon. Never too late. She must be informed."

Gandalf cleared his throat. "Well, perhaps after a meal then? The poor dear has been put through much in these past hours and I'm unsure of how she'll handle the news on such an empty stomach. She is of Hobbit kind, after all."

* * *

The company was given the opportunity to wash before they ate. Many of the company turned down the offer but both Bilbo and Beth jumped on the chance to be clean again. Bilbo had turned down their offer of fresh clothes while theirs were washed but Beth simply couldn't resist. The anticipation of clothing that didn't stick to her body through a layer of sweat and grime was enough to keep her grinning even before she climbed into the tub of warm water.

Although looking at the dress she was given after her bath, she figured that maybe Bilbo had the right idea all along.

The dress was a sky-blue, gauzy, sleeveless number that draped around her neck and clung to her curves in a likely indecent manner. Granted, if she was back in her old world she would have simply called the dress sexy as hell and let the boys stare. Besides, she told herself, it was just until her own clothes were washed and dried.

And aside from that still, it wasn't like anyone was going to notice her enter the room. They never had before! And she would have gotten away with it too if it weren't for Lord Elrond announcing her presence as soon as she stepped foot onto the balcony.

"Miss Baggins," he greeted. "You look lovely."

All eyes fell on her and she could feel the heat in her cheeks rising. Some of the more modest dwarves looked away in a hurry while other eyes lingered. Thorin couldn't even reprimand his nephews for openly staring. He was having enough trouble himself keeping his eyes off her.

She did everything she could not to just flat out run to the table and the empty seat beside Bilbo (or back out through the door, for that matter). Keeping her eyes fixed firmly to the ground in front of her feet was her only solace. Beth only raised her eyes when she was seated. The first thing she saw was Thorin's heated stare.

To save herself from the embarrassment of acknowledging the look out loud (though her loins had already acknowledged the look) she turned to smile graciously at Lord Elrond. "Thank you for your hospitality, Lord Elrond. We're all grateful for your food and home."

Elrond and Gandalf shared a knowing smile before Elrond answered, "You are most welcome, Lady Beth. I insist you take the dress with you when you leave. You are as beautiful as a summer day in it."

"Oh, I'm no Lady," she replied blushing, "But I thank you all the same."

"You have the bearings and beauty of a Lady," piped in Kili, ever mischievous. "Uncle could grant you the title for your help in our…uh, journey."

"Yes, Uncle. I think that's a splendid idea!" added Fili.

"They'll sing songs of Lady Beth, The Brave!" cheered Bofur, winking at the two.

The company looked at Thorin expectantly and Beth scoffed and rolled her eyes dramatically. "While it's very kind of you to say, there will be no songs and Thorin doesn't have to do any such thing. Now shut up and eat your food. The green stuff is good for you." And with that she shoved a forkful of salad into her mouth.

Gandalf laughed at the statement and helped the conversation along. He already arranged with Elrond for the map to be read later, as well as Beth being enlightened on her new found status in this world. It would be a turning point, he decided; although he could not decide if it would be for better or worse.

* * *

They were summoned stealthily as the rest of the dwarves were having a bit of fun burning furniture and making games. Bilbo, Balin, Thorin, and Beth all followed Gandalf to a beautiful library with a balcony. Beth imagined that the group on the balcony were having much more fun right now, but contented herself with imagining instead spending afternoons with all the books in this vast room. Though she became slightly discouraged when she read titles only in a flowing script she didn't understand.

The runes on the map were revealed to them and Beth wondered if it could be prophesy or divine providence that made the timing so fortuitous. She was snapped out of her daydreams as the map was handed back to Thorin and Elrond's eyes fell directly on her.

"There is someone who would like to meet you," he told her.

She blinked dumbly. "Me?"

A melodious voice came from behind them. "You, my darling girl. I have been waiting many centuries for your arrival."

They all spun around to find the most beautiful elven woman standing there. Thorin stepped protectively in front of Beth and demanded, "What is the meaning of this?"

"You are allowed to dismiss your companions, Lady Beth," stated Elrond calmly.

Beth swallowed thickly. "And why would I do that?"

"Because what we are about to tell you will change your life forever," answered the pale lady. And then with a smile she added, "again."

Her eyes darted back and forth, and then to the three she had with her. If her life was about to change, she reasoned, she may as well have some moral support with her. And how bad could it be, really?

"They can stay," she said.

"Very well," Elrond replied. "This is the Lady Galadriel of Lothlorien. She has foreseen your arrival many a century ago."

_I have seen into your heart. _Beth looked at Galadriel startled that she had not moved her lips. _Be not afraid, child. You cannot afford the luxury of fear._

"In the last age, I looked into my mirror," said the elven woman for everyone to hear. "It showed me the coming of a pure soul from another world. This soul would bring peace to all the races so long as it lived in Middle Earth. And this soul would bring love and prosperity to the kingdom it favoured."

"The King's Council," whispered Balin.

Beth looked over her shoulder at Balin and scrunched up her nose at the reverence spelled out on his face. "Are…are you trying to tell me that I'm supposed to be this magical soul? The 'King's Council' or whatever?"

"You are the very soul," she answered simply.

Beth kept her eyes glued to the floor and tried to slow her breathing and heart hate. After a moment to compose herself, she nodded and put on a brave face…rather, a blank face as to not betray her internal panic. "Well, if it's all the same to you I don't want to know any more than that." She then turned to address Thorin and Balin. "And if it's all the same to you, I don't want to be treated any differently. I, um…I'm gonna go now."

And just like that she walked out of the room. And as soon as she thought no one could see her she made like a coward and fled.


	4. Beginnings

Thorin found Beth a few hours later, perched on a railing and glaring out into the night sky like it somehow personally offended her. He considered leaving her to herself and her own musings before she spoke.

"Hey."

He walked up to stand beside her and inconspicuously peered over the railing to the long drop over the edge. He decided not to comment on her precarious seat and they stayed in silence for a moment before Beth started talking again.

"I'm not anything special," she declared.

Thorin cleared his throat. "I think coming from another world defines you as just that."

"Well…aside from that," she added lamely.

He paused for a moment, debating on whether or not to appease his bringing curiosity regarding this woman. Thorin decided there was no harm if done politely. "May I ask you a question?"

"I suppose there's no harm at this point."

"How did you come to be in this world?"

Beth was quiet for such a long time Thorin almost thought she would not answer. "I died," she said simply. She was quiet again for some time before continuing, as though debating on elaborating or not. "I wonder sometimes if I die again if I would go back to my old world. But then, I realize I wouldn't know what to do. I mean, I'm supposed to be dead. I felt the life leave my human body. I…my husband killed me, you know."

Thorin gripped the railing until his knuckles were white, feeling the hot rage roll through him. No man should ever take the life of a woman, let alone his own woman. Let alone this woman. And then the irrational disappointment at the fact she had been married at all.

"It's okay though." He had to look at her to make certain he wasn't imagining the statement. He was assured when she continued with, "I mean if I never died, then none of this would have happened. I have a brother who loves me now. In my old world I only had a sister who wouldn't even talk to me. And…" she trailed off and met his gaze. "I would have never met you and everyone else. And now I get to go on an adventure, defeat trolls, meet elves, and slay a dragon!"

Thorin could scarcely keep the smile off his face. "Maybe you should die more often."

"Oh, no thank you," she said chuckling. "Once is enough for me, and I know a second will come eventually whether I like it or not. I'm pretty sure I'm not immortal."

Another brief silence washed over them, both in their respective contemplations. Thorin tried to recall all he knew of the prophesy of the King's Council. Every race on Middle Earth had their own variation of the prophesy because very race was eligible to gain the benefits of this particular prophetic being.

He broke the silence by stating, "In dwarven culture, The King's Council is said to have a beautiful voice to be able to charm the otherwise suborn king."

He could see the pink tinge creeping onto her cheeks as she cleared her throat. "Would you like to hear a song from my old world? I haven't got the most magnificent voice despite what your prophesy says, but I promise your ears won't bleed."

"I would be honoured."

She started bobbing to a tune in her mind and began very softly.

_I hate seagulls and I hate being sick_

_I hate burning my finger on the toaster and I hate nits_

Despite not knowing what a toaster was, Thorin could feel himself almost smiling at the silly song.

_I hate falling over, I hate grazing my knees_

_I hate picking off the scab a little bit too early_

_I hate getting tooth aches, I hate when it's a piss take_

_I hate all the mistakes I make_

_I hate rude, ignorant bastards and I hate snobbery_

_I hate anyone who if I was serving chips, wouldn't talk to me_

Thorin felt himself drawn in as the song changed and her voice changed key.

_But I have a friend, with whom I like to spend_

_Any time I can find with_

_I like sleeping in your bed_

_I like knowing what is going on inside your head_

_I like taking time_

_And I like your mind_

_And I like when your hand is in mine_

She turned to smile at him in almost a sheepish manner.

_I like getting drunk on the tunes by the beach_

_I like picking strawberries_

_I like cream teas_

_And I like reading ghost stories_

She turned away as the song changed again, leaving Thorin with a curious feeling of disappointment.

_And my heart skips a beat every time that we meet_

_It's been a while and now your smile is almost like a memory_

_But then you're back and I am fine 'cause you're with me_

_And I'm in love with you_

Despite himself, Thorin could feel his heart race a little faster before scolding himself. _It's just a song._

_And I can't find the words to make it sound unique_

_But honestly you make me strong _

_I can't believe I found someone this kind_

_I hope we carry on_

'_Cause you're so nice and I'm in love with you_

_Love with you_

The pair could both feel their blood rushing, both embarrassed at their reactions to the song. Eventually Beth settled with simply smiling at Thorin and Thorin gave back the tiniest hint of a smirk. But even that tiny smirk had the blood rushing to Beth's face making her feel silly.

"We must leave very early in the morning," he told her to distract himself from the situation. When he read her look of confusion he added, "They will try to stop us."

Beth nodded with a frown. "And here I thought I'd get a full night's sleep in a real bed tonight."

Thorin felt his heart tug. More than anything he felt a pang of pity for the hobbit woman before him. She had only just learned of her great importance in this world and time to come. He remembered after his grandfather had been killed and his father disappeared how taxing it was for him to assume a role of great importance. On top of that he was sure such a soft creature was not used to the hardships of travel such as this. Still, he had not heard a single complaint come from the girl their entire journey thus far.

"You still may," he said before he could talk himself out of it.

"Really?" She asked, looking to him with a hint of excitement in her voice.

Thorin nodded once. "I will come to wake you in the early morning," he paused to mentally scold himself for not thinking that one through better. "Unless you'd be more comfortable with your brother coming to wake you, of course."

"Oh, no, that's fine," Beth said with a laugh. "You'll probably have a hard time getting Bilbo up at that hour anyway. Best not give him any important tasks until at least the sun has risen."

She gracelessly wiggled the right way and hopped off the railing to stand in front of him and smoothed her skirts. She gave him a shy smile and said, "I'll have my things packed and be dressed when you come to wake me so we're not wasting any time." She then took a step forward, raised onto her tip-toes and placed a delicate kiss on his cheek above his beard and whispered a thank you. He watched her scurry off, noting she was moving a little faster than she would usually.

His hand automatically raised to touch the spot she kissed and watched her until he could no longer see her silhouette. He didn't move from that spot until he remembered to breathe.

* * *

Thorin tried not to think about waking her in the morning. He couldn't. For one, it was simply improper for a man to enter an unmarried (or widowed? Unmarried in this world, at least) woman's chamber, even if she had assured him she'd be fully dressed. So Thorin didn't think about what he was doing. He just did it.

When he entered the room he was actually quite entertained by what he saw. There Beth was, upside down on the bed, completely tangled in the covers, and hugging a pillow to her with the smallest of smiles on her lips. He would later admit this was the moment he fell in love with her, but for now he simply thought the whole seen exceedingly endearing. Thorin crossed the room and gently shook her arm to wake her.

Beth opened one bleary eye to see none other than Thorin. She hummed softly and nodded her head to indicate she was getting up before testing her still sleepy limbs. She groaned in annoyance at the discovery of the tangled sheets.

Uncaring of Thorin's still watching eyes, Beth did her ritual wiggling around until giving up on trying to figure out where the blankets began and where she ended and rolled off the bed entirely. Thorin would have come to her aid had she not freed an arm and lifted a hand in indication to wait. Then in two less than graceful jerks she was free and on her feet to tie her boots.

As soon as she grabbed her bag the pair were off down the corridor to rendezvous with the company, who overall looked no better than Beth which gave her some comfort. Still, that did nothing to discourage them from departing as soon as the two were close with Dwalin leading in the front as she waited around the back to catch up with Bilbo.

"Do you think we'll ever see this place again?" asked Bilbo staring longingly at the city.

"Bilbo, I'm just about positive you'll come back here someday. Maybe even on the way back," replied Beth, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "But for now we're going to see Erebor. You've still got the whole world to go."

The siblings smiled at each other contentedly and linked arms, following the company of Thorin Oakenshield into the wild and further still to the narrow paths of the Misty Mountains.

* * *

Beth was terrified.

Like, piss-your-pants-you're-going-to-die terrified.

She never had the best footing in the world. On a good day, one could probably describe her as clumsy. And being on a narrow ledge, staring into an abyss, while it was storming heavily and muddy as you please would probably be considered a bad thing by anyone's standards. So of course, it could only get worse from there.

The moment she decided that maybe this whole quest idea wasn't her best move after all she heard Balin call out, "This is no thunderstorm; it's a thunder battle! Look!"

And then she looked. And then she was even more terrified. She looked up just in time to watch one giant knock the other's head off in one great whooping hit. All of the rubble from the blow came crashing down on the cliff face and all around them. To save herself, Beth threw herself against the rock wall only to smack her head onto their jagged edges.

She was still disoriented as the ground started shaking violently and was totally unaware of the rock giant's knees slowly separating the group. It was only after Balin declared they were fine that she even realized what had happened at all. Beth's head whipped back and forth desperately scanning the area for Bilbo and trying to make the world stop spinning all at once.

"Where's Bilbo?" asked Bofur. "Where's the hobbit?"

"There!" called Ori.

Beth rushed over to help Bilbo back up but was hit by a sudden and violent wave of dizziness. She watched Thorin jump down and risk his own life to save Bilbo. She stumbled her way over and pulled Bilbo into a tight embrace as soon as he was safe.

"Don't you ever do that to me again," she told him firmly.

"Aye, I thought we'd lost a burglar," agreed Dwalin.

"He's been lost ever since he left home. He should never have come." Thorin's eyes flicked to Beth. "Neither of them. You have blood all over your face."

She reached up to wipe at her forehead and was mildly surprised to see her hand come back almost totally red. Still, she looked up calmly nonetheless. "I hit my head in the commotion. I heard that head wounds bleed a lot."

"No matter," cut in Dori. "We should get you cleaned up and find a place to take shelter until this passes."


	5. Bravery

"Thorin said I should never have come, and he was right. I'm not a Took, I'm a Baggins. I don't know what I was thinking. I should never have run out my door."

"And what of your sister?"

In truth, Bilbo thought very much of Beth when making his decision. He thought that she would be absolutely fine as she had been this entire time despite all the odds. There was a prophesy attached to her, after all; she practically needed to be here. Plus, she was far sneakier anyway and would make a much finer burglar. And despite her probably being outraged at first, Bilbo was just about certain she'd understand. But before Bilbo could give any of his reasons (or excuses as Beth would later call them. And no, she did not understand) the ground started to shift underneath them.

Beth was awoken by the sensation of falling rather than the movement in the floor or even Thorin's cry to wake up. A scream ripped through her throat as she was painfully bounced back and forth against the walls around them and the dwarves also falling with her. Her brain only had time to process the word 'Fuck,' before she landed (thankfully) on top of the pile of dwarves but unluckily with a weapon hilt jabbing into her ribs and her face squished between a pair of boots. And then, as if that rude awakening couldn't have gotten any worse (and before she could figure out whose boots needed mending) they were suddenly being pulled, dragged, and grabbed in every direction.

The dwarves were up in seconds and ready to fight their way through but were simply outnumbered and overtaken. Soon they were all being herded through what Beth could only describe as a hive. A hive of filthy, scary looking creatures that leered and snapped as they were shoveled through.

In consideration of everything that had just happened to them before, Beth was simply far too dizzy to be doing any fighting back. That aside, she was still quite a bit smaller than the surrounding dwarves and they didn't seem to be having much luck either. But as soon as she felt pinching and grabbing in some less appropriate places, her vigour seemed to be renewed and she fought back hard enough to even knock some of the awful creatures off the ledge and down into the abyss.

And suddenly they were placed in front of the Goblin King. Beth couldn't find Bilbo in the crowd anywhere and could feel her heart drop into her stomach. Plus their view of the Goblin King was making her quite queasy on top of that. He was quite possibly the most grotesque being she had ever seen in her life. Still, she couldn't help but ask herself, _'What if he fell off the edge?'_

"Who would be so bold as to come into my kingdom armed?" asked the great goblin. "Spies? Thieves? Assassins?"

"Dwarves, your malevolence," answered one of the awful creatures. "And a woman."

There was a collective intake of breath from the dwarves as they did their best to conceal Beth from view, shuffling around her and subtly pushing her back.

"Ohh?"

"We found them on the front porch."

"Well don't just stand there; search them! And a woman, you say? Human? Bring her forward."

The struggle for Beth was brief as all the dwarves were overtaken with goblins searching and restraining them. Beth was dragged forward and unceremoniously dropped to the floor on her knees in front of the great goblin. She only hesitated a couple seconds before looking up to take in his huge grossness.

The Goblin Kind eyes her unabashedly and stated, "Much too small to be human. Much too pretty to be dwarf. Tell me girl, what are you?"

Beth swallowed thickly. "Does it matter?" she asked dryly, standing to full height only to be kicked to her knees again by another goblin.

The Goblin King threw his head back and laughed so his whole body jiggled. She looked away in disgust. "No!" He finally answered. "I don't think it matters at all. All I need to really know is what you're doing in these parts. Speak!"

Beth glanced over her shoulder to see the company of dwarves all staring at her. She knew she couldn't let her companions in more trouble by giving away their purpose. She swallowed thickly again, took a slow intake of air and slowly turned back to the great mass that was the Goblin King. In a very calm voice that did not betray her internal panic she asked, "Does it matter?"

The great goblin was decidedly less amused this time around. "Yes. I'll only ask one more time, girl."

"I guess that means I'll only have to say 'no' one more time then," she said, suddenly finding a confidence in her voice and cause.

"Well then," announced the Goblin King, standing as though to address his audience. "If she won't talk we'll make her squawk! Bring out The Mangler! Bring out the Bone Breaker!"

If she made it through this, Beth decided she was going to chalk it all up to just one really bad day. One really, really bad day. She would also be able to say she had survived torture, which was a pretty bad ass thing to claim. She really, really hoped she would be able to tell people that one day, considering the alternative was not being able to tell people because she'd already be dead.

But as this thought crossed her mind she heard Thorin's voice call out, "Wait!"

And everyone did. Like the king that he was, Thorin moved through the crowd towards her. To defend her.

"Well, well, well, look who it is. Thorin, son of Thrain, son of Thoror; king under the mountain," the great goblin mused. "Oh, but I'm forgetting. You don't have a mountain. And you're not a king. Which makes you nobody, really. I know someone who would pay a pretty price for your head. Just the head, nothing attached. Perhaps you know of whom I speak, an old enemy of yours. A pale orc astride a while warg."

"Azog the Defiler was destroyed. He was slain in battle long ago," growled Thorin.

"So you think his defiling days are done, do you?" he asked, turning to leer at Beth. "Send word to the Pale Orc; tell him I have found his prize. Now, I think I'm going to go to work on defiling my own prize."

Just as the Goblin King was about to make his way over, the goblin from before shrieked and threw down Thorin's sword for all to see. The goblins all gasped and their king backed away from it onto his throne crying, "I know that sword! That's the Goblin Cleaver! Biter! The blade that sliced a thousand necks! Slash them! Beat them! Kill them! Kill them all! Cut off his head!"

And suddenly there were goblins everywhere attacking them from all angles. Just as Beth felt a set of teeth sink into her upper arm a wave of power and bright light flung them all to the ground like a mini super nova. Beth briefly wondered if having so many concussions in such quick succession was very good for her.

"Take up arms!" she heard a familiar voice call out. "Fight. Fight!"

In an instant everyone was up, grabbing weapons and tossing them at each other. Beth didn't hesitate to follow suit and grabbed a club off one of the goblins. _Now_, she thought, _they really ought to have given me a weapon a while ago._

Beth kept to the middle of the pack, shoving and jabbing when needed of her. She never questioned when someone told her to jump, run, duck, hold on, and was running on pure adrenaline and instinct. And for a minute Beth let herself think they might actually get out of this thing alive. Plus she was quite pleased by the fact she hadn't even been tortured!

But as though to crush her very soul, like a demon from hell, the great goblin crawled up from the middle of the bridge they had to cross and boasted, "You thought you could escape me? What are you going to do now, wizard?"

And in a moment of pure brilliance Gandalf leapt forward and poked the goblin in the eye with his staff, following with slicing his belly wide open. Beth felt sick.

"That'll do it," were the Goblin King's dying words. Which, Beth thought were pretty comedic and probably could make it into some book in her old world. Gandalf's finishing blow caused the king to collapse and collapse the bridge they were standing on with him.

'_Not again_,' Beth thought as they fell far into the chasm. Although by some act of god, they had slowed down enough to only be slightly squashed in the debris of the bridge. When Beth lifted her head to see what was happening, she found her face only inches away from Thorin's, her body squashed on top of his.

"Hi," she breathed.

Thorin's intense gaze was interrupted by Bofur announcing, "Well, that could have been worse."

And suddenly Murphy's Law caught up to them and the massive goblin's corpse fell on top of the rubble to squish them further. And Beth's face was on Thorin's in an almost-kiss that wasn't quite a kiss because, Beth decided, kisses weren't painful and didn't involve so much teeth. And although the contact thrilled them both a little, neither commented on the situation, opting instead to get out of the rubble as fast as possible. Just as Beth thought they were going to make it again, they spotted the hoard of goblins careening towards them.

"Only one thing will save us!" announced Gandalf. "Daylight! Come on! Here, on your feet!"

They were off like a shot, each running towards the literal light at the end of the tunnel ahead of them. The stitches in her side and her dizziness were getting worse and Beth was beginning to slow down as they exited the cave. In one fluid movement Dwalin scooped her up and threw her over his back. She screamed at the sudden movement and clung onto his back like a monkey might.

But Beth could only think of where Bilbo might be. And the moment Dwalin put her down she stumbled over to Gandalf and tugged on his sleeve to get his attention. "Where's Bilbo?" she asked.

The wizard lifted his gaze and began his own head count, ending with a frown. "Where is Bilbo?" he asked out loud. "Where is our hobbit?"

Dwalin spat. "Curse the Halfling! Now he's lost?"

"I'll tell you what happened," Thorin cut in. "He saw his chance and he took it! He's thought of nothing but his soft bead and warm hearth since he first stepped out his door! We will not be seeing this hobbit again. He is long gone."

Beth reacted with fury, and without thinking of possible consequence took three long strides over to Thorin and reached back to slap him in the face. The sound was sharp and was followed by one Bilbo Baggins announcing, "No he's not. Here I am."

Beth didn't pause for a second and went straight from smacking their leader to throwing her arms around her brother in a crushing hug so tight Bilbo had to gasp for air. Thorin, despite being outraged himself, wondered if perhaps these mood swings were due to a few too many bumps on the hobbit woman's head.

"I want to know," demanded Thorin. "Why did you come back?"

Bilbo released his sister with a comforting smile and a squeeze on her shoulder. "Look, I know you doubt me, I know you always have. And you're right, I often think of Bag End. I miss my books. And my armchair. And my garden. And quiet afternoons with my little sister. See, that's where I belong. That's home. That's why I came back: cause you don't have one. A home. It was taken from you. But I will help you take it back if I can."

If there was any time to relish the moment, Beth was sure Balin would have cried right then and there. Instead a war horn sounded and a great chorus of howling followed.

Thorin muttered, "Out of the frying pan…"

"And into the fire," finished Gandalf. "Run! RUN!"

And once again they were sprinting away from enemies who would like nothing more than for them to be dead. Beth swore to herself that if she made it through this quest alive, she would never ever run anywhere ever again ever. Ever.

But down they dashed until the wargs and their riders started closing in on them. Gandalf shouted, "Up into the trees!" and Beth scrambled up one faster than she had every climbed a tree in her whole life. She turned around in time to see Bilbo yank his sword out of a wargs skull and silently congratulated him as he made his way up into a tree as well.

Before she knew it, every member of the company was in her tree at the edge of a cliff with her and she saw the threat that taunted them. That huge, pale, corpse-like creature with a missing hand had to be Azog. In that moment she felt regret for slapping Thorin, and was beginning to wonder if she'd ever get the opportunity to apologise. Gandalf got to work before her self-pity could settle in.

Tossing the fire-ball-pinecones was almost fun until Beth could feel her fingers burning and blistering. There was no time to worry about her hands however, as they tree they were perched on started uprooting and falling away from land.

The company was in various states of falling and hanging on, and Beth herself managed to cling to the trunk in an upright position during the fall. Her eyes were glued to the scene before her, allowing her to forget her own peril in the moment. The Pale Orc sat atop his warg, laughing as Thorin got up, planning to meet his foe in battle.

He didn't get two steps before getting smashed in the face and picked up in the wargs mouth. Beth saw Bilbo getting up from his spot to make a move and decided she also had a duty to help. She also signed the contract. She also held a loyalty to these dwarves. Not to mention her outright fear at the thought of Thorin being hurt or killed. She grabbed a thick branch that fell from the trees to use as some kind of a staff.

Beth turned around just in time to see Bilbo flying through the air to attack the orc Azog sent to kill Thorin. A strangled noise between a cry and a cheer escaped her as she rushed unthinkingly to Bilbo's aid. The Pale Orc and his posse of dangerous beasts advanced on Bilbo slowly enough that she had time to sprint up behind them and with all her strength and might she whacked him over the head and her poor branch cracked in half.

Beth almost soiled herself as the orc spotted her and she danced around the crowd to stand beside Bilbo, more for her own benefit than anyone else. After all, they had weapons and she had a broken stick.

Out of the corner of her eye Beth saw a giant bird flying towards them and in a moment of panic, ducked as Bilbo was picked up in its massive talons and was flown away. But then she saw everyone else being carried off by the birds and knew they were being saved. She turned back to see the Pale Orc still glaring down at her and her grin of relief fell from her face. His glare left her for a moment to watch something behind her and she spun around to see a wall of feathers and Thorin being taken away by one of the birds. She watched as just before the cliff ended his arm fell and the infamous oaken shield fell off of it.

Beth took off sprinting to retrieve the precious shield. She snatched it up and stuck it on her right arm for safe keeping. And then she looked around to notice all of the dwarves were gone and there wasn't an eagle left in sight. She also noticed she stood a scant few metres from the edge of the cliff. Her small prayer to go unnoticed by the enemy went largely unanswered and she found herself face to face with a battlement of orcs and wargs closing in on her. She almost started crying as she saw every ugly face turned towards her and every set of razor teeth barred for her throat.

Before she took a running leap over the edge, she sent another quick prayer out.


	6. Hope

The eagles put them down atop the Carrock, gently placing Thorin down last. And when the king came to thanks to Gandalf's magic, he asked weakly, "The Halfling?"

Gandalf answered while Bilbo came forward. "It's alright. He's right here. He's quite safe."

"You!" he growled, finding new strength to stand. "What were you doing? You nearly got yourself killed! Did I not say that you would be a burden? That you would not survive in the wild and that you had no place among us!" And then abruptly he pulled Bilbo into a hug. "I've never been so wrong in all my life!" He pulled back to look at Bilbo with a smile (much to Bilbo's shock). "Your sister was right about you. Where is she?"

A hush settled over the company as they all looked around, the silence becoming thicker as the seconds ticked by. All eyes glued to the floor, not wanting to be the one to break the awful news to their leader.

"She was defending you still when I was picked up," whispered Bilbo becoming a shade more pale.

Thorin's head dipped to match the company. But in the moment of mourning silence a distant whoop and caw could be faintly heard. Their heads snapped up to see Beth astride a great eagle with her arms held stretched out in imitation flight. She was majestic, and in that moment, absolutely fearless.

They watched as she landed and slid down the eagle's side a little clumsily, stumbling as her feet hit the floor. She turned to her mount and dipped into a small curtsy and the eagle bowed its head in turn.

"Thank you," they heard her say. "I hope that we may meet again one day."

"That is also my hope," the eagle replied in turn and took flight. Beth watched the eagle fly off a moment before she turned to address the group. She had both hands on her hips and her head was tilted to the side.

"Did I keep you waiting?" she asked cheekily. The hobbit woman then proceeded to throw her arms around Bilbo in a brief (but tight. Very tight) hug.

She turned to Thorin who was just beside her and pulled the shield off her arm, handing it to him with a sheepish smile on her face. "Take it as an apology for the slap. I was out of line."

The entire right sleeve of her tunic had been ripped off at some point in the series of events they had just gone through. As soon as the shield came off her arm, Thorin could see the extent of the damage. A huge purple bruise covered most of her shoulder, disappearing under her tunic. Just above her elbow a set of bloody, angry teeth marks stood out. And the better part of her forearm was covered in an array of scrapes, bruises, and blood, which made the skin look more red than the porcelain he knew it was supposed to be. And yet she still wore a smile that melted his heart.

He grabbed her suddenly and embraced her tightly. She wrapped her arms around his middle in response.

"You're hurt," he told her.

"I'm okay," she responded.

"I was wrong."

She smiled. "I know."

"I vow to take your council from this point forward."

She looked up, smiling mysteriously and said, "Well then you'd better turn around."

His forehead creased but he did as she bid, and he never regretted it. The lonely mountain painted the horizon and Thorin could not stop his own smile from forming.

* * *

The general consensus after taking the majority of the day to get off the platform was that they needed water, and they needed food. And while replenishing their bodies was sounding like an amazing prospect, Beth could only dream of one thing.

A bath.

A sweet, probably cold but still amazing bath. She could feel the dried blood melting out of her matted hair already. And it was no surprise to Beth that Gandalf seemed to know the perfect lazy stream.

They set up camp not far away from the water and broke off into small groups to go bathe while the others started the fire and food. Beth opted to go last, deciding she would get more time in the glorious clean water if no one was waiting on her. The anticipation was killing her.

"I think Gandalf knows exactly where we are," announced Beth as Bilbo came back from his bath, looking almost like a respectable hobbit again.

"And a good thing too," replied Bilbo. "Because I needed a bath almost as bad as you do."

They grinned at each other and Beth reached out to playfully smack his arm. "You were brilliant," she told him.

His grin widened. "Was I? I personally liked when you swung that stick. What on Middle Earth possessed you to even do that?"

"I got jealous. No one gets to hurt my boys except for me," she joked back.

"Yes, speaking of which," Bilbo began, putting on a stern face. _Oh dear_, she though, he was getting into big brother mode. "Beth, you know that I love you, and that at the end of the day I just want you to be happy. So when I say you and Thorin looked a little too cozy on the Carrock today, I mean that I don't want you to get hurt."

She blushed and smiled, though it seemed sad to Bilbo. "I know I haven't got a chance with Thorin, Bilbo. It's just a crush; let me enjoy the moments as they happen. If I get hurt it's my own stupid fault and you can say 'I told you so.'"

Bilbo looked unconvinced for a moment, but relented with a nod. And very timely, Thorin, Fili, and Kili emerged from the shadows of the forest, hair still wet but now clean.

Thorin approached the two to tell her, "The river is yours to use now. Will you be fine on your own? I could keep watch if that is what you'd prefer."

"He'd like that," muttered Kili to Fili loud enough for all to hear.

Beth laughed and pat Thorin's (muscular) arm. "I'll be fine. You can come if you hear me scream." She then proceeded down the path to the river, resisting the urge to follow her comment with, 'That's what she said.'

One good thing came of her multiple concussions, she thought. At no point in the general clusterfuck that happened did it ever occur to her to take her bag off her back. So while it may have been as dirty as she was, inside still sat a bar of soap and that lovely blue dress the elves gave her. And clean underwear. God bless the head injuries.

* * *

At this point it was safe to say that everyone in the company could plainly see the attraction between Beth and Thorin, except perhaps, for Thorin himself. So when Balin approached Fili and Kili with his suggestion, there were no complaints from either party. "He just needs a push in the right direction," he told them.

"I don't understand what's stopping them now," shrugged Kili.

"I think it's both more and less complicated than we think," suggested Balin. "I believe Thorin is holding himself back because she is of hobbit kind. He is the king, after all, and certain things are expected of him. He doesn't seem to realize that despite not being of dwarvish decent, she is still considered royalty. The King's Council has been part of dwarvish prophesy for many ages now. So of course, no problems should arise from this union except of course getting it started."

Fili smirked. "So what you're suggesting is, we get to go off and play matchmaker?"

Balin smiled. "That may just be what I'm suggesting. But you didn't hear it from me."

"Hear what?" called Kili over his shoulder as the two wasted no time making a bee-line for their uncle. Their uncle who was typically brooding, staring into the fire. Fili and Kili took up a spot on either side of their uncle and innocently settled in.

Kili kicked off their project by loudly asking his brother, "Fili, do you remember Beth this morning on the back of that eagle?"

"I do, brother, I do," responded Fili happily. "She was a true vision if I ever saw one in all my life. She may as well have owned the world as she flew over to us."

"An angel with golden hair," sighed Kili

"A queen in the air!"

"And how she fights! I've never seen a fiercer woman."

"Except for mother, perhaps."

"I think mother would quite like her."

"I think I'm in love," sighed Fili dramatically, almost causing Kili to choke on his own spit and give away their game.

"I think she's out of your league," Thorin finally commented.

"I think he might be right, Fili," commented Kili. "I think she might make a better match for uncle."

"What makes you say that, Kili?" the brother asked conversationally.

"I think she may just be the first woman to make him smile since our dear mother. Plus, did you see that slap?"

"Enough of this foolishness," Thorin cut in.

"Well, alright," shrugged Fili. "But at least enjoy the view with me."

He nodded towards the direction Beth was walking towards them in the dress the elves gave her. Only the whole bottom skirt was torn off to her knees and her right arm was bandaged with the salvaged material.

Fili leaned over to his uncle and whispered, "You know, I think it would be considered a great honour to wed a living prophesy. And a greater honour to wed such a beauty."

Thorin said nothing, opting instead to watch Beth make her way over to them, stopping at each member of the company for a word or exchange. When she made her way over, Fili made a big show of getting up and helping her settle down right next to Thorin. She simply laughed and played along, also making a big show of being flattered and thanking him profusely.

"So I'm told by Gloin that this is an inappropriate skirt length," she announced jovially.

"I'm not complaining!" cheered Kili.

Fili patter her arm. "It is a fine length for traveling with friends…and entertaining in the bedroom."

Thorin smacked Fili upside the head. "You ought to be more respectful to a lady. Have I not taught you better?" he scolded.

"It's fine," she consoled with a giggle. "I _am _with friends, and tonight this clearing is our bedroom. How lucky for all of you to share it with me!" The brothers cheered and laughed and she could have sworn she even saw Thorin crack a smile. "Either way," Beth continued, "it's lovely by the fire and I intend to go to sleep soon. I hope you all like cuddles, because anyone within arm's reach is likely to be subject to my unconscious affections."

Thorin thought he might very much enjoy her subconscious affections.

* * *

"Two by two," said Gandalf. "There is no way to tell what sort of temperament our host may be in at any given time. I will take Bilbo with me first. Thorin, I suggest you take Beth with you when I whistle."

And with that he was walking away with Bilbo trailing behind, trying to take everything in around them. Beth couldn't blame him in the slightest; she too was trying to look at everything. Not to mention how strange everything was! The honey bees were huge!

Thorin watched as one of the large insects landed on her nose. She crossed her eyes and giggled at the creature before it flew away. He heard the whistle and held out his arm for her to take. "My lady."

Beth blushed pink and Thorin couldn't have been more pleased that he had caused the pretty flush of colour. Further back, some of the dwarves were grinning and nudging each other, making fun but happy for their leader. She took his arm with a shy smile and the pair walked through the beautiful garden. Thorin felt his heart speed up and offered a small smile in turn. Before they knew it, they had arrived at a large cabin with the largest, hairiest man Beth had ever seen.

Bowing, Thorin introduced himself, "Thorin Oakenshield, at your service."

"Beorn, and I do not require your service."

Beth smiled at Beorn's abruptness and dropped into a curtsy. "Beth Baggins. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Beorn."

"This is Bilbo's sister," explained Gandalf.

The huge bear-man bent down to her level and without hesitation Beth placed a hand on his upper arm in greeting. He looked surprised at first, and then delighted. "Well met, Beth." He turned to Thorin next. "You and your intended are welcome here for the night."

"Oh," Beth squeaked and blushed. "He is not my intended, but I thank you just the same."

Beorn laughed, "Ah, I had wondered how a dwarf could win the affections of such a gentle creature!"

Bilbo laughed the hardest at the jest, because he knew such affections were already won. And he had a clear view of Beth's wild blush and Thorin's scowl.

* * *

The dwarves were all given shelter for the night, mostly thanks to Gandalf's telling of their crazy adventure thus far. As they all sat at the dinner table, Fili and Kili started in on their own version of the story, starring Beth and her bravery and heroism.

"And then she said, 'Does it matter?'!"

A great bellow of laughter burst from the room. Bofur shook his head and added, "I couldn't have done it better myself."

"And of course," continued Kili, "let's not forget when she took that tree branch, almost as big as she is, and whacked Azog right over the head with it! I watched as that branch splintered under the strength of her swing and the thickness of his skull!"

Then Gandalf added as well, "And just when we thought she had been lost to us, the hobbit came in riding on an eagle with her arms spread to catch the wind. So the eagle told me later, she retrieved Thorin's oaken shield before taking a leap of faith off the edge of the cliff, into the air."

The company looked to her with respect and reverence and Beth ducked down behind her tankard of milk and shrugged.

Thorin cleared his throat. "I do believe what my nephew said in Rivendell may yet hold true. One day, there will be songs about Lady Beth the Brave."

"The gallant!" cried Ori.

"The fair," said Fili with a comical eyebrow wiggle.

"The cunning," pitched in Balin with a wink.

"The embarrassed," jested Beth, which earned another chorus of laughter.

As dinner wound down, arrangements were made for the next day. Beorn told them that they would be safe inside, which was more than enough motivation for the company to stay in. Beth lay down and waiting for the snores to start up before she shuffled her way over to where Thorin lay. After dinner, she watched him brood more intensely than she had seen recently and was concerned.

She settled in on her back beside him and whispered, "Are you okay?"

He also adjusted so that they lay beside each other on their backs, their arms pressed against each other's. "I am fine," he told her lowly.

Beth shivered involuntarily in response to his low voice. It was sexy as hell. And here she was, lying right beside him, her arm pressed against his much more sexy, muscular one.

"Are you cold?" he asked.

Grateful for a cover and thankful that the dark hid her blush she whispered back, "A little."

Thorin turned over onto his side and wrapped a muscled arm around her. Beth froze for half a moment before relaxing. Deciding that this would not happen every day, she rolled over to face him so she was firmly tucked into his chest, hugging him back.

"Azog scares me," she confided. It had been in the back of her mind since the night they were cornered. Being a believer in the good of the world, it scared her to see a being so purely evil.

Thorin was silent for a moment before deciding to open up, "He frightens me as well."

"I'll protect you," she mumbled sleepily.

Thorin could not help but smile and planted a light kiss on her forehead. And in each other's embrace they fell asleep.

* * *

Beth woke well before the rest of the company, as was custom for her. She was pleased to find herself still wrapped in Thorin's arms. Beth took a deep breath of him in, enjoying his musk and snuggled in further briefly. In a daring move before she got up, Beth snuck a kiss onto his cheek and wriggled out of his arms to stand and stretch.

Thorin, however, was already awake. In fact, he would tell her later that he had woken a scant few minutes before her, enjoying their embrace too much to leave. When he felt her kiss, he silently vowed one day to make her his queen. But now was not the time to blow his cover.

Across the cabin, Beth found Beorn setting aside provisions for them. Quietly, Beth fell in beside him and started packing what he had laid out. "I am told by Gandalf that you are the product of a prophesy," commented the bear-man.

"So it would seem," Beth said back dryly, rolling her eyes a little. The whole being a prophesy was getting a little old, in her opinion. She certainly didn't feel any different than before. "Personally, I like to think there's more to me than just some prophesy."

Beorn smiled. "I should think so. Still, for the novelty, I would like to ask if the King's Council has any council for me. My people did not keep kings but…"

Beth paused to study him. She spotted the shackles on his wrists and pulled a pin from her hair. Without asking, Beth reached up and tugged on the first hand. With calm curiosity, Beorn watched as the small girl picked the locks one by one.

Holding both of his huge hands in her smaller ones she looked him full and the face and told him, "Never give up hope."


	7. Just Go With It

Beth could feel the suffocating aura of Mirkwood as soon as they spotted it on the horizon. She decided it was even worse up close. As they climbed off the loaned ponies (which Beth whispered a thank you to, even though she felt silly doing it), and started unpacking, Beth kept glancing over her shoulder towards the tree line, unable to shake the feeling of being watched.

"My horse! I need it!" called Gandalf. Beth's stomach sank. Gandalf was leaving them. Again. Nothing good ever came of Gandalf leaving them. She wondered if she could say anything at all to convince him to say. But he was a wizard, she reasoned, and wizards apparently just did as they pleased when they pleased. And maybe to make herself feel better she also reasoned that wherever he needed to be needed him more than they did.

She watched Bilbo run up to Gandalf and talk for a minute. But the movement that caught her eye the most was Bilbo reaching into his pocket and coming back with nothing. She saw the strange look on his face and decided she'd corner him to ask later.

* * *

Truthfully, the idea of cutting through Mirkwood didn't seem like such a bad idea until they started running out of food. And then the dwarves started fighting each other. Over nothing at all, it seemed to the hobbits.

"The sun!" cried Bilbo. "We have to find the sun. Up there!"

Beth nodded to the tree and watched Bilbo climb higher and higher until she couldn't see him through the tangle of branches anymore. She then turned her attentions to the fighting dwarves. Frowning, and in her loudest possible voice she yelled, "ENOUGH."

The silence that followed was deafening and only lasted about five seconds before they heard a CRACK echo through the trees. And then another. And then a small series. And then she almost wet herself as she watched Bilbo fall from the tree. Suddenly a powerful force knocked into her back and she fell into a heap on the floor. The world went black.

* * *

Beth woke up (very rudely, in her opinion) to being prodded. She then noticed that the fuzzy greyness in front of her was all that she could actually see. She panicked slightly, thinking she might have gone blind until she moved her fingers and froze. She knew what she was feeling.

She was in a spider web.

Beth was terrified of spiders.

She wanted to scream and start sobbing uncontrollably but knew that either action would draw attention to her. Instead she swallowed thickly and focused on trying not to panic. _Just breathe. Just breathe. OH MY HOLY GOD SOMETHING JUST TOUCHED ME. _

Tears started gathering in her eyes and a scream was being held forcefully in her throat. When she got control over her panic, Beth began to wiggle slowly to free her arms to cross them in front of her chest instead of having them pinned to her sides, all the while making faces at the feeling of spider webs surrounding her.

And suddenly she was falling. As she fell, Beth broke free of the upper part of her confines, screaming like a banshee in combination from falling and being surrounded by giant spiders. When she hit the ground a few good kicks was all it took to get the rest of the web off. All around her the dwarves were battling the giant spiders for their lives. She heard Fili shout her name and saw a dagger come hurling through the air towards her. She whipped around to see the dagger land in a spider eye. In a moment of pure adrenaline that could only come from facing your worst fear, she grabbed the dagger and stabbed it into three more of its evil eyes.

Without warning or time for recovery another spider was on her. But just as she was about to stab it as well (she was ready to stab spiders all day if she had to) an arrow flew through the air and landed right into its head.

Elves flooded into the area, saving the dwarves. This didn't do much to relieve Beth, however. She figured these were the elves that had caused so much trouble for the dwarves of Erebor. Then the last spider dropped and they were surrounded.

They were searched and lead through Mirkwood at arrow-point. Beth reflected that this was the second time they were being led by a hostile force and could not find Bilbo. She couldn't decide if this worried her, or comforted her, seeing as Bilbo pulled though the first time. She wondered if it would become a habit with him.

Still, Beth could not deny the eerie beauty of the elven kingdom as they entered. A different kind of beauty, to be sure. As they were being pulled apart and dragged off she heard Thorin yell, "The woman stays with me!"

The guards paused momentarily before nodding and shoving Beth towards him. She was pulled into his embrace the moment she got close enough, saving her from yet another fall. He clasped her tiny hand into his larger, calloused one and protectively guided her as he followed the guards. As they arrived at their destination, Beth knew immediately who the king who slighted the dwarves was. Although she couldn't help but admire his crown of twigs and berries.

"Some may imagine a noble quest is at hand," the elven king began. "A quest to reclaim a homeland and slay a dragon. I suspect a more prosaic motive: attempted burglary, or something of that ilk. You have found a way in. You seek that which would bestow upon you the right to rule: The King's Jewel, The Arkenstone. It is precious to you beyond measure, I understand that. There are gems in the mountain that I too desire. White gems of pure starlight. I offer you my help."

_Oh good_, Beth thought. _This should be an easy predicament to get out of then._

"I'm listening," answered Thorin, which pleased Beth, making her think they would be out of this debacle soon and would laugh about it on the way out. Maybe even with an escort to ensure those nasty spiders wouldn't get them again. That would be nice.

"I will let you go, if you but return what is mine."

"A favour for a favour," Thorin mused.

"You have my word. From one king to another."

And then Thorin fucked it up by cursing out Thranduil for his lack of honour and saying something Beth assumed was nasty in his native tongue.

Thranduil responded with, "Stay here, if you will, and rot."

Beth, who was very upset with Thorin for ruining their easy way out and who did not want to be in a dungeon cried out, "Wait!"

And they did. Thranduil's icy eyes fell on her for the first time in more than just a passing glance. "And who might you be?" he asked.

Thorin butt in before she could make her own introductions. "She is my betrothed."

Beth blinked, but decided he was attempting to protect her with this title and meant well. Still, she did not appreciate being interrupted. "Never mind that," she said, waving him off. "My name is Beth Baggins and I'd like to have a private audience with you."

Thorin almost glared at her before she shot him a scalding look. He did say he would take her direction. He did say he would trust her.

Thranduil's eye brows raised and he asked, "And why would I accept such an offer?"

She stood tall (for a hobbit) and pulled her shoulders back. Then, looking him straight in the eyes she stated, "Because it is not a wise king that sends away the King's Council."

He stood back. "Escort our guest to the dungeons. Leave us."

Beth gave Thorin's hand a squeeze as he was dragged off. But she and Thranduil never broke eye contact until all else had left the room. Beth looked away first and casually wandered to the seat beside the throne and promptly sat down. Thranduil watched with cold, calculating eyes and she cheekily patted his throne to invite him to sit.

He complied (begrudgingly, Beth imagined) and asked, "What might I do for the King's Council? If you truly are who you claim."

"I am, unfortunately," she snorted. "But it's what I can do for you, actually." Thranduil inclined his head, suggesting she continue. "I will return your starlight gems to you as soon as we reclaim the mountain. Provided you set us free, offer escorts through Mirkwood, and give Thorin an official apology for your slight against him and his people."

"I will set them free and provide safe passage, but I will not apologise for protecting my people."

"Then apologise for not helping the dwarves out after the matter. Apologise for being taller than him. I don't care what it is you're apologising for, just so long as it happens." She leaned forward. "Look, my goal here to restore peace between your kingdoms. I'm offering you the chance to be the bigger person here…no pun intended."

"I have nothing to apologise for," Thranduil stated.

Beth sighed heavily. "Then I have no starlight gems to give you. Now please take me to the dungeons; I'd like to be with my betrothed."

On cue a single elf came into the room and grasped her upper arm firmly. She looked up to find herself looking at a younger version of the king. A glance between them confirmed her suspicions. The elf guided her to the cell and just as he opened the door she spoke. "Prince, a piece of advice for you and your father." The elf looked intrigued but did not say anything. "Love is a more powerful force than fear." And with that she walked herself into the cell and shut the door behind her.

As soon as the elf was out of sight Thorin grabbed her shoulders and demanded, "What did you do?"

"What you wouldn't," she shrugged.

"They are not yours to give," he growled.

She snorted. "Yes they are. I'm going to be the queen, remember?" Thorin pulled away and Beth could have sworn she saw his cheeks redden underneath his beard. "Either way," she continued. "I would have just asked for the gems as my portion of the treasure and given it to Thranduil. I don't really care about jewels and gold. I just want us to reclaim your home."

There was a pause and an intensity overcame Thorin's eyes that she was unsure of. He closed the distance between them and trapped her in a kiss. Beth was shocked for a moment and forgot to breathe. She never once actually thought Thorin would return her affections and desires. She was so shocked she forgot to kiss back. He pulled away enough to see the crestfallen look on his features. Not one to let an opportunity pass, she grabbed his tunic before he could fully pull away. Snaking a hand around the back of his neck to push him to her, she pulled him into an even more passionate kiss. She almost fainted when she heard the low groan in his throat as he pushed her up against the wall. They would have probably been content kissing each other senseless if it weren't for the sound of a clearing throat.

They broke apart flushed to see Bilbo awkwardly standing at the door. "Not that I'm not happy for you two, I really am," he said. "But we should really get going."

Beth leapt forward to hug him and gave his ear a sharp tug. "I said to never scare me like that again," she scolded.

"Sorry," he murmured sheepishly. "But uh, I have a plan, and you're going to have to trust me."

"Always," she replied with a grin.

The dwarves slunk through the halls and Bilbo led them further into the underground city. They finally arrived at some sort of cellar where two guards were passed out on the table.

"Everyone climb into the barrels, quickly!" said Bilbo.

Immediately the dwarves started arguing his plan. Beth placed a hand on Thorin's arm and gave him a meaningful look. He nodded and commanded, "Do as he says."

Beth all but squeaked as she was lifted by Thorin into one of the upper barrels. The rest followed by getting into their own.

"What do we do now?" asked Bofur.

"Hold your breath," stated Bilbo. Beth could feel a sense of dread rise and did as he said just as the floor gave way beneath them. A few seconds of free falling and everyone had splashed into the water, bobbing wildly. Each member struggled to get upright and hold onto to each other's barrels.

Beth spun around and asked, "Where's Bilbo?" which was getting really old. She might have to start leashing him. But then the sound of a splash alerted his presence. Bilbo surfaced, sputtering and clung onto Nori's barrel.

"Well done, Mr. Baggins," congratulated Thorin.

The hobbit only sputtered out, "Go!"

And then waterfalls. And then rapids. And then elves. And then, to top all of that off, orcs. And just as Beth wondered if things could actually get any worse, they did. The flood gates closed and stopped them all as the orcs surrounded them. Beth did her best to push approaching orcs into the water and watched helplessly as Kili braved a climb to open the gates again.

By some miracle, after getting shot in the leg he managed to get the gates open and fall into his barrel again. Beth winced at the sound of Kili's cry of pain as the arrow in his leg snapped.

They floated down the raging river once more, still being pursued by the orcs who were being pursued by the elves who were also perusing them. Weapons were being thrown back and forth and Beth watched Bombur do a fantastic spinning wheel of death routine.

And then at some point the orcs were driven off, giving up their pursuit to fight the elves and the waters calmed. Beth took count of the company as they floated to the river bank and was relieved to find that for once, everyone was actually together. There was no pause once they were on land.

"Come on!" urged Dwalin.

Kili fell to his knees onto the rocks and Beth looked worriedly at him. She didn't know how bad that arrow wound was, but if it was bad enough he couldn't walk, then it was bad enough to worry over.

"I'm fine, it's nothing," Kili tried to wave it off.

"It's not nothing, your leg needs binding at least," Beth cut it.

"Bind his leg, quickly," Thorin demanded. "You have two minutes."

While they set to work on binding Kili's leg Beth saw a man sneak into their surroundings just as Dwalin did. But the man shot the rock clean out of Kili's hand and into Dwalin's stick before they even had a chance.

"Do it again, and you're dead," the man warned.

Ever clever Balin stepped in to save the day. "Excuse me, but you're from Lake Town if I'm not mistaken? That barge over there, would it be available for hire, by any chance?" _Good old Balin; diffusing a tight situation and solving problems with one swift question._

"What makes you think I will help you?" the man shot back.

"Those boots have seen better days. As has that coat. No doubt you have hungry mouths to feed."

"Oh come on, come on, enough with the niceties," cut in Dwalin.

"What's your hurry?" asked the bargeman.

"What's it to you?" Dwalin shot back.

"I would like to know who you are and what you are doing in these lands."

"We are simple merchants from the Blue Mountains journeying to see our kin in the Iron Hills," Balin fibbed. To his credit it was pretty smooth…except for one little detail.

"Simple merchants, you say? And what of the girl? She is clearly no dwarf."

Beth made her way forward, not risking being introduced by someone else again. "Hello!" she called cheerily, marching up to him and shaking his hand. "My name is Beth, I'm his wife," she said, pointing over to Thorin. "We've been through a long journey already and need food, supplies, and probably weapons. Could you help us?"

The bargeman paused, a little taken back by the girl's cheeriness and forwardness. He chose to answer with, "I know where these barrels came from."

"What of it?" Thorin asked.

"I don't know what business you had with the elves, but I don't think it ended well," he stated. "No one enters Lake Town but by leave of the Master. All his wealth comes from trade with the Woodland Realm. He will see you in irons before risking the wrath of King Thranduil."

"I'll wager there are ways to enter the town unseen," suggested Balin.

"Aye," he responded. "But for that you would need a smuggler."

"For which we will pay double."

The man looked at Balin to see if he was serious and when he decided he was a single nod was all that was needed to encourage the company to climb aboard.


	8. Fire and Water

"If you value your freedom, you'll do as I say. There are guards ahead."

Beth wasted no time and snatched the coin purse to hand to Bard. She was quite done with the dwarves bickering and reluctance to hand over their money. "What now?" she asked.

"Into the barrels," he instructed.

Beth spun around, watching the dwarves climb into the barrels (again) and noticed a slight problem, feeling a slight panic bubbling up in her chest. "There aren't enough," she said.

"What?"

"There are fifteen of us and only fourteen barrels WHA—" the apparent solution was Thorin scooping her up from behind her, already in his barrel and hoisting her in to join him. He sat on the bottom and lowered her onto his lap sideways.

"Problem solved," was all she heard Bard say.

Beth glowered but started blushing when Thorin asked, "So you're my wife now, are you?"

"I was your betrothed yesterday, wasn't I?" she shot back.

"That was the story, yes."

"So I just decided to give myself an upgrade is all." She shifted so she was able to look at him. His eyes found hers in a familiar intense gaze. In a daring act, she decided to lean up and claim his lips with hers. Apparently Thorin had the same idea as his arms wound around her waist, bringing her closer. Beth wrapped her arms around his neck, reveling in how strong and powerful he felt against her. Plus, he was a really good kisser.

They were rudely interrupted by pounds of fish landing on top of them.

* * *

Beth held her breath most of the time Bard was arguing with some guy who sounded like a rat and probably looked like one too. That, and she was really very offended by the smell of fish. And then, as though being stuffed in a barrel of rotting fish wasn't enough, they had to come in through the toilet.

Bard's daughters came in to give them all blankets, but were short. So without much care or thought Beth made her way over to Thorin and seated herself onto his lap, wrapping a blanket around the both of them. She could see most of the dwarves grinning at them and was glad no one commented out loud.

"So Bilbo," she started. "What was worse, being covered in troll snot or coming out of a toilet?"

"Oh, that's tough. Although I'd probably go with the troll snot, thank you for asking."

The siblings chuckled to themselves, enjoying the moment of not being in direct danger. Then Beth could feel all of Thorin's muscles contracting under her at once.

"A dwarvish wind-lance," he whispered.

"You look like you've seen a ghost," commented Bilbo.

"He has," said Balin. "The last time we saw such a weapon the city was on fire. It was the day the dragon came. Only a black arrow, fired from a wind-lance could have pierced the dragon's hide."

"Had the aim of men been true that day, much would have been different," said Thorin. He then turned to Bard. "You took our money. Where are the weapons?"

"Wait here."

Bard came back with…sort of hand-made rag-tag weapons. He claimed that all other iron-forged pieces were under lock and key in the armoury. Balin and Beth exchanged a look at the plotting glance that passed between Thorin and Dwalin.

"Why not just take what's offered and go?" tried Balin. "I've made due with less; so have you. Why not just take this and leave right now?"

"You're not going anywhere," interrupted Bard.

"Excuse me?" asked Beth, indignantly.

"There's spies watching this house and probably every dock and wharf in town. You must wait 'till night fall."

Beth shrugged. "Well then, that settles it. I'm going to take a nap to prepare myself for whatever mischief you boys have planned for later. Don't you look at me like that Thorin, I know when you're about to do something stupid."

Just as Beth was guided out of the room to a bed, Dwalin looked at his friend with a smirk. "It looks like she already plays the part of wife quite nicely," he said with a laugh.

* * *

When Beth woke up it was already dark, and eerily quiet. Too quiet. She rushed down the stairs to find the three children in an otherwise empty house.

"What have they done?" she asked.

Just about as the young boy was going to answer, a loud ruckus started coming in from outside. Running over to the window, she spotted a crowd gathering around the largest building in the town.

"Damn them," she muttered, sprinting for the front door. "Tell your father I said thank you if I don't see him again!" she yelled behind her, sprinting across the wooden platforms, ducking between and underneath people as she went along. The children didn't even try to stop the hobbit woman.

She shoved her way through the crowd in time to hear Dwalin declare, "Hold your tongue. You do not know to whom you speak. This is no common criminal; this is Thorin, son of Thrain, son of Thoror!"

_What happened to being incognito? _

"We are the dwarves of Erebor!" announced Thorin. "We have come to reclaim our homeland. I remember this town in the great days of old. Fleets of boats lay at harbour, filled with silks and fine gems. This was no forsaken town on a lake! This was the centre of all trade in the north. I would see those days return. I would relight the great forges of the dwarves and send wealth and riches flowing once more from the halls of Erebor!"

Beth had to give it to him; Thorin could pull a great speech out of his ass in a time of need.

Bard pushed through the crowd. "Death! That is what you will bring upon us. Dragon-fire and ruin! If you awake that beast, it will destroy us all."

_Oh_, thought Beth, _that's probably a bigger set-back than what we've previously faced_. But before she could get into the logistics of how to not wake a dragon, Thorin rebutted.

"You can listen to this naysayer, but I promise you this: if we succeed all will share in the wealth of the mountain. You will have enough gold to build Esgaroth ten times over!"

"All of you, listen to me! You must listen!" cried Bard. "Have you forgotten what happened to Dale? Have you forgotten those lost in the firestorm? And for what purpose? The blind ambition of a mountain king so blinded by greed, he could not see beyond his own desire!"

"Now, now," the Master cut in. "We must not, any of us, be too quick to lay blame. Let us not forget that it was Girion, your ancestor, who failed to kill the beast."

Beth snorted. _So much for not being quick to lay blame. _

Bard stormed up to Thorin saying, "You have no right, no right to enter that mountain."

Beth, deciding she'd seen quite enough emerged from the crowd proclaiming, "I think he might have the only right."

Thorin, seemingly grateful for her support wrapped an arm around her before turning to the Master of Lake Town. "I speak to the Master of the men of the lake. Will you see the prophesy fulfilled? Will you share in the great wealth of our people? What say you?"

_Of course he will_, thought Beth. _Look at his scum bag! All he cares about is money._

"I say unto you…welcome! Welcome and thrice welcome, King Under the Mountain!"

Cheers filled the air and the party had begun before it was even announced. The company was welcomed into the master's home and while she thought the guy was a scum bag, Beth was glad for the opportunity for a real meal, bed and bath.

Alfred, the rat from earlier (she was right to say he looked like one) lead the company upstairs to a set of bedrooms. "King Thorin, we have a bedroom set up for you here. I'm afraid the rest of your company will have to share the three remaining rooms." He leered at Beth, "I hope that's alright for the little lady."

Before Beth could speak for herself Thorin cut in (again), "She's to stay with me."

"I see," he leered.

_No, you don't see_, thought Beth. Although in a much more polite tone she asked, "Where would I be able to take a bath?"

"I will have one drawn for you in a moment in your room. Excuse me," he said, bowing out.

When he left the hall Beth announced, "Well, that was creepy. Why don't you lads go have a drink and enjoy yourselves? I'm going to be up here taking care of some of my girly needs, which, yes, in fact do exist, despite all this adventuring."

So while the men were downstairs drinking and partying, Beth was enjoying a hot bath, taking care to wash her hair and groom as needed. That being said, everything needed to be groomed. Everything. When Thorin decided to retire some hours later he found Beth in nothing but a robe, brushing the hair on her hobbit feet while humming a tune he did not recognise. In that very moment he decided he loved her.

Beth looked up to see Thorin making his way over to her, his expression unreadable. She adjusted herself to sit at the edge of the bed and unlike what she was expecting; he kneeled down in front of her.

"What is it?" she asked, placing her hands on his shoulders. Her brow furrowed and her lips pouted a bit in a frown.

Thorin took her hands off his shoulders to hold them in her lap, keeping his eyes focused on their hands, unable to look her in the eye quite yet in light of his revelation. "What is it, Thorin? What's the matter? Are you alright?" she asked this time with more urgency.

He lifted his head and his blue eyes pierced hers. "I want you to stay."

Beth smiled and furrowed her eyebrows even more. "Okay. I'm not going anywhere; I mean, we've slept together before so—"

He cut her off. "No. I mean, when this quest is over. When we've reclaimed Erebor, I want you to stay with me. Be my wife for real. Stay with me and be my queen."

And then magically she turned into a fish, opening and closing her mouth over and over again. Every time she thought she had something to say to him another factor would crop up in her brain. What about Bilbo? Why did Thorin have to be a _King? _Would the other dwarves accept her marrying him?

Thorin reached a hand out to cup her pale cheek. The colour seemed to have drained from her face as she comically debated. "Are you alright?" he asked.

Her eyes met his. Beth couldn't remember if she had ever seen him look so tender or vulnerable. She decided it brought a softness to his features that were otherwise sharp. But then she remembered the pressing matter at hand.

"Thorin I…I don't know. No! Wait, that's not a 'no' it's just…well there's a lot of things…" she trailed off uncertain. Did she even want to marry him? She did admit that Thorin was the sexiest man she had ever seen. And while he began as a royal hard ass, she enjoyed his company. She admired his leadership and strength.

Swallowing her doubts, she placed a hand over his that still cradled her face. "Okay. But we have to figure some things out first. I—"

Promptly she was cut off by Thorin leaning forwards to capture her lips with his own. There was no choice but to succeed in this quest now. He had to reclaim Erebor, and he had to wed his strange, precious hobbit from another world.

Beth wanted to protest but found herself melting into the kiss and caught her treacherous hands reaching forward to tangle in his hair. She kissed him harder upon realizing they could die tomorrow. And also upon that realization she pulled away and grasped at the collar of his shirt.

Looking him in the eye with an intensity he had never seen before she stated, "I don't know if we will live to see the end of this quest," when Thorin opened his mouth to reassure her she cut him off. "I don't want to die without at lest once having lain with my husband. The one I love."

Thorin was stunned and was sure he was at least somewhat flushed. Sure, it was not the first time he had been with a woman, but it was certainly the first time a woman had propositioned him. And it was certainly the first time he would be with a woman that he was in love with. He let her delicately pepper kisses over his face and jaw and felt her tug at the end of his shirt. In an instant he came back to awareness and stood, throwing the shirt over his head and taking a curious look down at her.

Beth had to remind herself to breathe a couple times. That was the hottest thing she had ever seen. He was the hottest thing she had ever seen. Dark chest hair covered his pecks and trailed down to a V that temptingly dipped underneath his pant line. The muscles in his arms and abdominal rippled as he took a look down at her. She stood to meet him and found exactly just how much bigger he was than her.

While not a stick figure herself, Beth was completely dwarfed (if you'll forgive the pun) by Thorin in every way. She only came to his shoulder in height and decided those arms (those beefy, sexy arms) could wrap around her twice. Taking a deep breath, Beth let go of the front of her robe and shrugged it off her shoulders, leaving herself completely bare in front of him and was glad to have had the bath first.

His eyes seemed to darken and without warning he almost lunged himself at her, gripping her waist with one hand and cupping the back of her head with his other. He laid her down on the bed, never breaking their heavy make out session, only vaguely aware of her fingers deftly untying his breeches. He pulled away only for as long as it took him to kick of his shoes and pants. As he did, Beth had to remind herself to breathe again when she saw him in his full glory. He was big all over, apparently.

He crawled over her, claiming her lips again and letting his hands wander up her sides, cupping her breasts, trailing over her skin. She couldn't help the breathy gasps and moans that escaped her as he made her very nerve set afire. Her own hands curiously glided along his muscled back, cheekily grabbing his solid bum. He pulled back to grin at her before his mouth attacked her neck, trailing down to her chest and taking a sensitive nipple into his mouth. Beth gasped and threw her head back at the sensation and wondered how he knew to handle her already. She was lost in the sensations until she felt him pause to adjust.

She almost fainted at the sight of him between her legs before she felt his hot tongue run along her womanhood. She was ready to cum when he pulled away and planted a now salty kiss to her mouth. He leaned back slightly to just look at her. Thorin admired his handiwork, watching her generous breasts heave in quickened breathing and her skin flushed all over. She licked her lips and placed a gentle hand on his hip to guide him closer.

His eyes never left hers as he entered her until Beth had to close hers out of pure ecstasy. Both had to admit it was a tight fit, and neither was complaining. Thorin started off slowly enough and Beth could already feel the beginnings of an orgasm. She didn't think she could speak if she wanted but it didn't matter with Thorin reading her cries and moans the way he did.

Just when he thought he was about spill over the edge, Beth cried out from underneath him and he could feel her tighten around him further in her orgasm. She curled in towards him with one hand around his neck for support and the other clawing into his back in pleasure. Thorin came with one final thrust and held onto her in his own orgasm.

They fell asleep in each other's arms.

* * *

Beth woke to Thorin slipping out of her grasp. In response she tightened her hold on him and gave her best effort to pull him back to her.

"Nooo," she moaned. "Two more minutes."

Thorin gave a breathy chuckle before slipping back under the covers with his love. Who, at the moment was looking like a dream with her blonde hair fanned around her head like a halo and her cheeks still lightly flushed. Beth blinked opened her eyes and couldn't help but grin at the sight waiting her. Oh good, so she did actually spend the night with the hottest dwarf in all of history.

"I was hoping it wasn't a dream," she confessed sleepily.

Thorin placed a delicate kiss on her temple and smoothed back some of her hair. "It was not a dream, My Queen."

The breath caught in her throat. Queen. Right. If they survived this she would have to become a monarch if she wanted to be with Thorin. If they survived this. They were going to poke a dragon today. Joy. That was enough of a jolt of panic to wake her up fully.

Beth leaned up to place a chaste kiss on his lips. "I hope you weren't thinking about leaving without me Thorin. I know you weren't, because that would make me very upset with you and I know you wouldn't intentionally do that," she said sweetly as she got up in her full naked glory and walked across the room to her clothes, swaying her hips cheekily as she went.

He made no attempt to cover the sound of him crossing the room to get to her. His arms snaked around her waist as she reached for the first article of clothing and felt the fire in her belly rekindling as she felt his bare skin pressed against her back. And something else pressed against her back too.

Thorin brushed his fingers through her hair and took a small section to braid. Beth waited patiently but curious as to what he was doing. He finished by taking a small silver bead from his hair and placed it at the end of her braid. Then he began peppering kisses along her exposed shoulder. She didn't hesitate a second and spun around to capture his mouth with her own.

"I'm not done with you," she growled.


	9. Angry Little Treasure

There was a great fan fair on their arrival to the docks. Beth weaved through the crowds trying to find Bilbo. When she did she clapped a hand on his shoulder and whispered, "Bilbo, there's something I have to tell you."

"I think there's something you have to tell all of us," teased the cheeky voice of Fili from behind them. She turned to glare at him but saw Kili being supported by his brother. His skin still sported a pale pallor and the dark circles under his eyes hadn't gotten any better.

"Should you really be coming?" she asked Kili.

"I'm fine. Now explain!"

Her eyes drifted back to Bilbo who was still waiting. "Well, I wanted to tell my family first," she remarked sassily.

Fili and Kili both grinned, but it was Fili who responded with, "It looks like we're about to be family too. So go on!"

Bilbo sputtered. "What?!"

Beth sighed and rubbed a temple; the temple, she noted, that Thorin kissed this morning. Ugh, she was turning into a love sick puppy! "I sorta kinda agreed to Thorin's proposal of marriage last night. And then I think we eloped, but I'm not sure about dwarven culture in regards to that."

Bilbo was a blushing sputtering mess and the Durin brothers were laughing at both their expenses. By the time they got to the boats and were loading up, Bilbo made an astute observation.

"You do know we're one short? Where's Bofur?"

"If he's not here, we leave him behind," Thorin responded.

"We'll have to, if we're to find the door before nightfall," added Balin. "We can risk no more delays."

_Speaking of delays…_

Thorin stopped Kili from boarding stating, "Not you. We must travel at speed. You will slow us down."

Beth frowned and cut in, "That was a rude way of putting it," she chided, but then turned to Kili, "but that being said, he's right. You're not well enough. Rest. Get better and then join us."

Oin nodded. "Excellent decision My Queen. I'll stay with the lad. My duties lie with the wounded."

Beth furrowed her brow. How did everyone know? Sudden clarity washed over her as she reached for the braid Thorin put in earlier that day. She shot Thorin a reproachful look just as Fili climbed back out of the boat.

Thorin reached out to try to stop him, "Fili don't be a fool; you belong with the company."

Beth reached out to remove Thorin's hand from Fili's arm. "No," she said, looking at Fili with understanding, "he belongs with his brother."

And like that, they were floating down the river, towards the mountain that loomed over them and quite possibly their deaths.

* * *

The day was spent making haste upwards and upwards. Beth shivered at the sight of the ruins of Dale. They didn't even know where they were really going. And that proved to be truer than they cared to admit as they began simply searching for the door.

"Up here!" called Bilbo eventually.

Everyone turned to see the great statue of the dwarven king and were pleased to see some of the carvings looked a bit like stairs. Beth threw her arm around Bilbo in excitement.

"You have keen eyes Mr. Baggins," complimented Thorin.

Beth grinned. "See? I knew you were cut out for adventure!"

Bilbo scoffed lightly but grinned as a response came to him. "Just as I know you'll be cut out for monarchy," he said slyly.

Beth sputtered indignantly and turned red in seconds. "I—I well, you see…I don't really know about all this Queen business really. And I mean, Bilbo, I love you so much and I don't want to send you home by yourself and—"

Bilbo cut his babbling sister off by raising a hand. "And you've finally found where you belong. I think your story is amazing Beth, and I know you'll make the most amazing Queen Middle Earth has ever seen. And I won't lie—I'll miss you. Daresay, I might get thin without all your wonderful cooking but…I'm happy when I see you happy. And I see that Thorin makes you happy."

Before Beth could admit to herself that those _were _in fact tears forming in the corners of her eyes the two turned to the sound of Thorin clearing his throat. Humbly, and almost pleadingly Thorin asked Bilbo, "Would that be a blessing, Mr. Baggins?"

Bilbo couldn't help the grin. "I suppose it is," he sighed. "But I expect a seat of honour at the wedding!"

* * *

"Dwarf doors are invisible? What sort of idiot thought that one up?!" Beth cried in frustration.

Upon making it up the stairs (which were just small cliff ledges, according to Bilbo and Beth) there was some great confusion with the hobbits when they found they could not see a door. And then, upon Dwalin's explanation of dwarf doors, Beth huffed and went to sit off to the side. Just when they thought the quest was almost over (sort of) there had to be dwarf doors involved. And to make matters worse, the sun was setting…fast.

The band of frenzied dwarves were harping on the cliff wall (where the door supposedly was) until, as though intentional, the sun set over the rock wall. Despite not agreeing with invisible doors, Beth found herself also at a loss when the last sunlight slipped away.

"The last light of Durin's Day…will shine upon the keyhole," Thorin muttered to himself before spinning around to face the company. "That's what it says. What did we miss? Balin…"

Balin shook his head remorsefully. "We've lost the light; there's no more to be done. We had but one chance. Come away lads, it's over."

And just like that they all started shuffling away. Beth felt indignant rage bubble up in her chest but before she could say it, Bilbo spoke her mind. "Wait a minute, what? Where are they going?"

Thorin took one last look at the key in his hand, the key that Beth assumed was his only lifeline up until now, uncurled his fingers and let it drop to the ground. He then pushed the map into Bilbo's hands and stalked off himself, leaving two put out hobbits in his wake.

Again, Beth thought she would burst from her anger. Never in all the world had she thought Thorin would just _give up _so easily. Bilbo watched his sister's face as the (unfortunately) familiar look of rage spread across it. Her brow furrowed and her lips pinched into a tight line. She seemed to snarl as she told him, "Wait here. I'll be back," and then proceeded to stomp off in the direction the dwarves left.

Beth caught up with them just as they were proceeding to hop onto the death-stairs. "What do you think you're doing?" she barked.

Thorin looked over his shoulder to her and wondered if he should be weary of her anger. "Leaving. Beth, there's nothing for us here."

"Well then just leave. Just give up. Personally, I'm going to stay until Durin's Day is over, when the moon is high in the sky and…" she trailed off. _Of course! Moon light!_

Perfectly timed as always, Bilbo shouted at that moment, "Come back! Come back! It's the light of the moon! The last moon of Autumn!"

Thorin's face lit up and he unexpectedly dashed off towards the sound of Bilbo's voice. Beth and the rest of the dwarves took a second to look at each other before spinning around themselves and following him. They arrived just as Thorin stomped his boot on the almost-lost key and Beth had to shake her head at what was obviously Bilbo's clumsiness.

He took they key and slowly, reverently put it in the keyhole. The door pushed in with a hiss of air and it took the company a couple seconds of awe before they dared enter. Beth found her way beside Thorin as he touched the corridor wall. "I know these walls. These halls. This stone."

Beth gently placed a hand on his arm so he would look to her. When he did, she smiled at the gladness on his features. "Welcome home, Thorin."

* * *

"Don't be silly; of course I'm going."

_This conversation is taking too long_, Beth thought. When she came on this quest she went knowing full well that at some point there was going to be a dragon involved, and that she was going to be a pawn in that part. In fact, along the way she had made peace with the idea and even became a little excited about seeing a dragon at all. A dragon! Who the hell else could say they've seen a dragon?

"I will not let you go and get yourself killed," growled Thorin.

"Oh. _OH_. So you'll let my brother go and get himself killed, but you won't let me. Let me tell you something mister, I signed that contract same as him and I plan on upholding my end of the deal. Just because somewhere along the way we fell in love doesn't mean you get to tell me what to do now. I joined this quest despite you, and I'll risk my life despite you."

_Okay_, she thought, _that was probably a little mean. Rectify the situation._

Sighing in defeat (knowing her conscious was right this time) she reached up to place her hands on his shoulders. When he made eye contact with her she continued. "Look, Thorin, I love you. There's no two ways about that. But you can't shelter me forever, no matter how much you want to. I'm going to go in with my brother, and we're going to find you that jewel you care so much about. And we're not going to die."

"How can you say that with such certainty?" He questioned.

"Call it a gut feeling. I trust mine, and I want you to trust them too. I want you to trust me as more than your councillor, Thorin," she said in ways of explanation.

Turning on her heel to join Bilbo and Balin who were waiting (a little impatiently) by the entrance she was stopped by Thorin stepping right in front of her. All thoughts of protest died as he claimed her lips in a passionate kiss that was so short she didn't even have time to react.

"I trust you," he whispered as he embraced her one last time.

She beamed at him and ignoring the butterflies in her stomach, set forth. Bilbo and Balin started off ahead a few steps and she quickly fell in line. The corridor was long and dark and Beth had to wonder if they were actually ever going to reach this place.

"You want us to find a jewel?" Bilbo asked.

"A large white jewel, yes," answered Balin almost cheerily.

"That's it?" Asked Beth. "I imagine there's quite a few down there."

"There's only one Arkenstone," answered Balin. "You'll know it when you see it."

The siblings exchanged a concerned look. How an earth were they going to know? Balin stooped walking and turned to address them.

"In truth, I do not know what you will find down there," he admitted. "You needn't go if you don't want to. There's no dishonour in turning back." He shot a look at Beth. "I'm sure Thorin would even be relieved."

"No Balin," Bilbo answered. "We promised we would do this. And at least we ought to try." Beth nodded in agreement, taking Bilbo's hand in hers as an act of solidarity.

Balin smiled. "It never ceases to amaze me."

Bilbo scrunched up his face. "What?"

"The courage of hobbits. Now go, with as much luck as you can muster."

Beth smiled and jumped to squeeze the old dwarf in a hug before setting off with Bilbo down the long corridor.

They were stopped by Balin saying, "Oh, and you two…if you do see a dragon, try not to waken it."

They nodded stiffly and continued on. At the end of the passage the pair could see light coming from the doorway they were about to enter.

The sight took their breath away. Vast piles of gold and treasure were piled as far as the eye could see and further. The siblings looked at each other with doubt and Beth shrugged.

"We'll know it when we see it, right?" she said as a ways to assure herself as much as her brother.

He nodded, and then did the most stupid thing she'd ever seen him do. Looking around, he called out, "Hello?"

Beth shot him an 'are you crazy?' look that he ignored before stating, "Good, good, he's not home. Not home."

Beth pinched the bridge of her nose. "You go left I go right?" she offered. Bilbo nodded and the two set off in their opposite directions scouring for the jewel.

Beth rolled her eyes every time she could hear Bilbo from so far away. Still though, she supposed this place had a mighty echo to it anyway. It didn't stop her from being quiet as a church mouse though. Along the way she found a lot of white gems that didn't quite fit the descriptions, treasure both raw and cultured, weapons, dining sets, and no Arkenstone to be seen.

The very loud sound of a pile of treasure slipping reached her and Beth suppressed the urge to add a groan to her eye roll. And then the sound got louder. And then it became very clear to Beth that something was indeed very wrong. The final recognition was the voice of Smaug himself.

"Well thief…"

Beth snuck over to a pile of treasure she could duck behind but for now had a view of what poor Bilbo had gotten himself into. Well, it would have been a good view had she been able to spot him amongst the treasure at all. She flattened herself when Smaug turned his had in her direction and sniffed the air.

"Two thieves. I can smell you both. I hear your breath. I feel your air. Where are you? Where are you two?" The hobbits waited in their respective hiding places with baited breath. Beth felt anxiety wash over her as Smaug started following Bilbo. She slipped from her own hiding place to behind a pillar that was somewhat closer to their exit and Bilbo. "Come now, don't be shy," the dragon taunted again. "Step into the light."

"There is something about both of you," Smaug announced suddenly, moving his head away from Bilbo's hiding spot (presumably). "One of you carries something gold…but far more precious. The other is a treasure more precious than gold. Where are you, little treasure?"

Beth could hear the dragon closing in on her, but just as quickly he stopped and said, "There you are, thief in the shadows."

Her eyes widened comically and she peaked out from behind her hiding spot. Bilbo was backed against a pillar, face to face with a dragon_. Holy shit_. Beth took the opportunity to sneak further along, at least closer to the stairs so she would have easy access out.

Beth watched Bilbo as he tried to talk his way out of trouble with the dragon and was tickled to find it almost working. The dragon seemed to forget all about her as Bilbo rambled and slid down the piles of treasure. She almost gasped when she spotted the Arkenstone and Bilbo ran after it, not hiding that he was running. She hoped that Smaug hadn't seen it as well.

"Did you think I did not know this day would come?" he roared. "That a pack of canting dwarves would come crawling back to the mountain!"

Bilbo slipped and skated on the treasure piles and Beth finally made it to the stairs. He was still trying to chase after the glowing gem as the dragon taunted him. He claimed to know that the dwarves were involved, going so far as to produce the Oakenshield name. And then Bilbo was standing right beside the damned thing.

"I am almost tempted to let you take it, if only to see Oakenshield suffer. Watch it destroy him, watch it corrupt his heart and drive him mad," Smaug claimed casually. "But I think not, I think our little game ends here. So tell me, thief. How do you choose to die?"

Beth started and gasped as Bilbo disappeared right in front of them. Smaug reared his head back and roared, unleashing a great stream of fire. Beth ducked behind another pillar but felt an invisible hand tug on hers and she let out an almighty scream and ran for the exit. Just as she was about the first flight of stirs up she heard Bilbo call out, "Wait! Beth, it's just me!"

Her eyes slid over to the dragon still raging across the room and back to Bilbo. Pointing an accusing finger at him she stated, "You're going to tell me what happened as soon as we're out of danger. Now come on, we have to get out of here!"

They ran into Thorin just as they reached the exit of the treasury. Beth was going to fling her arms around him until he stated, "You're alive."

She put her hands on her hips and shot back, "Not for much longer if you don't move."

"Did you find the Arkenstone?" he asked.

Beth's jaw dropped. "The dragon's coming!" Bilbo said, oddly calm for this predicament.

"The Arkenstone," Thorin interrupted. "Did you find it?"

"No," said Bilbo, now more panicked. "We have to get out."

And then as Bilbo took a step towards the exit, Thorin pulled his sword and pointed it at him. Beth had had enough. She took two menacing steps towards him and knocked his sword arm to the side, making room so she could shove him back. He didn't move much of course, due to size and strength differences but it still seemed to wake him up.

"What is wrong with you?" she cried. "Is this what the dragon meant?"

But before any kind of answer could be offered Smaug bellowed behind them, "You will burn!" Which sent the three running down the corridor faster than any of them thought they could move. The rest of the company was waiting with baited breath just outside of the entrance and jumped to help Thorin pat down the flames that had caught on his coat in their escape.

Beth was livid. As soon as the flames were put out (not that that would have stopped her) she put all her strength into shoving Thorin against the cliff face. "What the fuck was that?!" She shouted.

The dwarves (and Bilbo for that matter) looked scandalized hearing such language from her. And although this wasn't the first time she had been physically violent with their leader, this was the first time they didn't know exactly what had provoked the girl's temper.

Thorin shrugged her off. "I don't know what you're talking about."

And suddenly in her mind, Beth was back in her old world, fighting with her husband. She adopted the defensive but aggressive stance of one hand on her hip, back straight as an arrow, and shoulders pulled back. "Oh, oh you don't know, do you?" She asked sarcastically. Despite knowing what Beth was angry about Bilbo cringed at what was happening. He knew first-hand how Beth could be when she was angry, and she was _pissed_. "Could it be that you almost got us fucking killed, asshole?" She shoved him again. "For a stupid piece of SHINY ROCK! Do you really not care about our lives? Do you not care about _my _life? I hope you and your Arkenstone are very happy together, Thorin. I'm not going to stick around only to be second to a pile of shiny stuff. You're _sick_."

And on that note, she spun around and started marching to the statue-stairs, planning on heading back to Lake Town. Maybe she would just go back to the Shire. This mission wasn't what she thought it was. Thorin didn't want to reclaim his home—he wanted to reclaim his treasure. And she was stupid for ever thinking that she could get her happily ever after in there.

* * *

It was Dwalin who spoke first.

"Well we all know I'm not one for emotional outbursts from women-folk," he preceded. "But I think Beth may have been right this time." He turned to Thorin. "And I think Balin has a point. I have never in all my years seen you so changed, Thorin. And I worry for you, my friend."

Thorin glared at Dwalin, then Balin. "You both know we need the Arkenstone to lead the dwarves against this foul beast."

"Aye, but at what cost?" asked Balin.

Thorin was silent for a moment. "At our own cost."


	10. Trouble in Paradise

Beth sat on the first stair, having marginally cooled off as she reached it. Maybe she was being unfair, she reasoned. Maybe she just got too emotionally invested in this whole endeavour. In her momentary bliss of finding someone who loved her (at least she _thought _he loved her) she seemed to have a happy ending written out already in her head.

Beth sighed heavily and pulled herself up. She would just have to apologise for her outburst for now, politely tell Thorin it just wasn't working for her later, and get back to her job. But when she found herself at the entrance of the mountain, she could not find any of the others. And being that they couldn't have passed her unseen to go down the mountain…

"Fuck," she snapped. "I leave them alone for five minutes and they decide facing a dragon is their best course of action." She starred into the open door. "I don't want to go in there," she announced to herself. She starred the entrance down before deflating and groaning. She shuffled her way in, cursing in her head the entire time and wondering just _how _she planned on finding them.

It turned out that whole ordeal wasn't the hardest part at all. As it turned out, all she had to do was just follow the ruckus and noise and dragon roar. Beth picked up her pace as she heard Smaug roar for the second time and hoped that she wasn't too late.

_For what? To die with them?_

She skidded to a halt upon finding the huge forges and the dwarves scattered, seemingly attempting to play out some insane plan while trying to battle a dragon. And while she was angry at Thorin, there was no reason to not help her other companions. Especially since Bilbo was up on a ledge, laid out in plain view like a snack.

"HEY!" she shouted. Smaug immediately turned to spot her on the other side of the forge and she ducked behind a pillar, running as fast as she could away from the huge lizard.

"Little treasure!" Smaug called out to her. "You can't hide from me forever! And as soon as I take care of all your little friends you and the rest of the jewels in this mountain will be mine forever."

"You've gotta catch me first!" she declared and kept running and darting about the vast room, keeping the dragon well occupied until she heard Thorin shout at Bilbo.

"Keep going, Bilbo! Run!"

She switched direction and found herself high-tailing it after her brother into another vast room with tapestries all over the walls. They were not fast enough to get rid of Smaug.

"You think you can deceive me, barrel rider?" roared Smaug. "You and the treasure have come from Lake-town. This is some sordid scheme hatched between these filthy dwarves and those miserable trading Lake men. Those sniveling cowards with their long bows and black arrows. Perhaps it is time I paid them a visit."

"No!" Beth gasped.

Bilbo cried out, "This isn't their fault! Wait! You cannot go to Lake Town!"

Beth looked horrified at Bilbo, knowing he just unwittingly signed the entire town's death warrant. "You care about them, do you?" the dragon asked. "Good. You can watch them die."

Smaug turned to leave when Thorin called up from atop a huge column of rock, "Here! You witless worm!"

Smaug whipped around and growled out, "You."

"I am taking back what you stole," declared Thorin.

"You will take nothing from me, Dwarf," the dragon sneered. "I laid low your warriors of old. I instill terror in the hearts of men. I am King Under the Mountain."

Thorin puffed out his chest. "This is not your kingdom. These are Dwarf lands. This is Dwarf gold. And we will have our revenge."

Beth watched stunned with Bilbo as the column was pulled apart to reveal the great solid gold statue of a dwarf king. Smaug was hypnotized by the glittering statue until it seemed to warp slightly. Then without warning the cooled outer layer of gold melted and the molten gold washed over him, seemingly drowning the great lizard. But just as Beth was about to whoop with joy the fire drake emerged from the lake of gold, struggling out of the pool of molten mineral.

"Revenge!" he roared. "I will show you revenge!"

Smaug took off flying out of the open window-like fixtures, the gold cooling instantly and falling off him in glittering dust that speckled both Bilbo and Beth on his way out. From beside her, Bilbo asked under his breath, "What have we done?"

The same worry reflected in Beth's eyes. She assumed that the dwarves behind them had also felt the sinking sensation in themselves because she could hear nothing from them. Her eyes were trained on the sky until she could no longer see the dragon and then wandered to the pool of gold a few yards from where they were standing. She wondered briefly if they knew that the _molten _gold would not reach them on their raised platform, or if it was simply a risk they were willing to take. Bitterly she thought it was probably the second one.

* * *

Their first course of action was to (surprise, surprise) make their way back to the treasure room to look for the Arkenstone. Beth refused to even look at Thorin, opting to stay with her brother on their perusal. Though she did note that Thorin did look quite sullen.

Beth was not as taken with the great room of jewels as she was the first time. The whole incident with the dragon left a bitter taste in her mouth. The group split up, each heading in their own direction. As Beth continued to follow Bilbo, she noticed he was heading in the same direction they were in before.

On their stroll through the glittering treasure hoard, a specific light caught Beth's eye to her left. Bilbo didn't notice her walk off in a slightly different direction, his goal clearly set in mind. Beth bent to pick up a glittering white necklace made of gems she thought very much resembled starlight. They also very much resembled what Thranduil had described was 'stolen' from him. Debating for a moment, Beth pocketed the jewelry and went to catch up with her brother.

Bilbo was pocketing his own prize when she caught up to him. He turned round to see Beth with a hand on her hip, giving him a very pointed look, but didn't question what it was that Bilbo took. She supposed he was entitled to some of it anyway and if he saw what he wanted, why should she (who did the very same thing moments before) stop him?

"Mr. Baggins!" Thorin called out. "Here is the first payment of your reward! Cast off your old coat and put on this."

Both the hobbits were impressed with the gift. A chain mail shirt accompanied by a jeweled belt fit Bilbo very nicely. "I feel magnificent," confessed Bilbo. "But I expect I look rather absurd."

Beth laughed. "I think you look as magnificent as you feel, Bilbo."

The hobbit beamed at his sister and then to Thorin. "Thank you. But, um, are we arming ourselves? Because it looks like we're arming ourselves."

Thorin nodded. "We must be prepared for when Smaug returns."

Beth snorted, quite un-lady like. "And since when have swords and armour been any good against a dragon?"

"You are correct, I'm afraid," admitted Thorin. "We must make haste to the main gate."

And so the group departed from the treasure chamber and into the direction of the main gates. Balin led the group, and Bilbo and Beth once again took up the rear. Thorin stopped at a conjunction and waited for the hobbits. Beth was about to breeze past him, following the dwarves to the right passage when Thorin stopped her by placing a cautious hand on her shoulder.

"Yes?" she asked, noting her voice to be more snippy than intended.

Thorin frowned and hesitated for a moment. "I would like you to see something before we meet the others at the gate. I—it's important."

Beth stared him down for a minute (in which Bilbo was holding his breath) and finally said, "We'll catch up with you later, Bilbo. Don't get lost."

Bilbo nodded, concerned but took off in the direction the rest of the dwarves went, intent to catch up with them before he lost his way. Beth continued to stare down Thorin until she could no longer hear the patter of Bilbo's footsteps. "Lead the way then," she said.

The walk to wherever Thorin was leading Beth was silent as though all the air and sound had been sucked out of the space. It took them a few scant minutes to arrive at their destination. Beth noted that this must have been a very nice part of the mountain, with veins of gold glowing in the very walls and decorative door frames to every room. Each seemed to be labeled in runes much like the one that had been on Bilbo's door what seemed like ages ago.

Thorin stopped at a particular door and Beth waited for him to open it for her. When he didn't, she turned to see him looking at her with an expression Beth couldn't describe or decode. He simply motioned her to the door and Beth turned to look at it again. There was only a single rune on the frame and the door itself was covered in gold. Beth reached to the knob and twisted, carefully pushing the door in to reveal a pitch black room.

She looked back to Thorin with confusion and instead of answering Thorin took a single step into the threshold and with his torch lit a bowl of flammable material. The fire spread quickly, following the little river of liquid until the whole room was lit and every gold covered surface shone brilliantly. Beth took a tentative step in and her breath caught in her throat.

The entire room seemed to be a shrine, and in the middle stood a display of brilliant armour inlaid with more jewels than she could count. Two small swords stood upright on either side of the armoured statue, the hilts also glittering with the gems in them.

"When the Lady Galadriel looked into the future and saw the coming of the King's Council, my own ancestor also had a vision," Thorin began. Beth looked at him curiously, but did not linger, still trying to take in the impressive room. "He knew that when the King's Council came, it would be a woman. He commissioned his best armourers and craftsmen to make her armour and weapons fit for her status and importance. Two swords: the symbol of equality and fair judgement, and Mithril armour inlaid with hundreds of diamonds so that no weapon could touch her and her opponents would be blinded by her brilliance."

By now Beth had come face to face with the statue display. She swallowed thickly, reaching out to stroke the Mithril shirt and the large diamond that sat in the middle of the chest. Thorin walked up behind her and she turned around.

"Are you saying…this is all for me?"

In a humbling display, Thorin dropped to one knee in front of her and took both her hands in his. "Every Durin king before me has waited for your arrival and has each added their own gift for the King's Council. I…was still a prince when Erebor was taken. I am the only one who does not have anything to give you." His head dropped so it rested on their clasped hands. "I could not even protect you from myself."

Beth felt her heart drop into her stomach. Despite her resolve to leave for home after the quest was done, she couldn't help but feel bad for the crap she gave him. Being a prophesy was hard.

Sighing loudly, Beth told him, "No, you couldn't." She could see Thorin wince at her words. "But I don't think it's me who needs protection from you." Thorin lifted his head to meet her eyes and was stunned when she said, "I think the only person who needs to be protected from you is you."

A thick silence washed over the pair before Beth continued. "Look Thorin I…I love you, damnit. And I don't know why, but somehow this place has changed you. So if we make it out of this whole ordeal alive, I'm going home unless I see the Thorin I fell in love with." And with that, she dropped his hands and turned to take the armour off the mannequin to dress herself.

Beth decided that despite Mithril being very light indeed, all the plating was cumbersome. She took the mail shirt along with the forearm braces and shin braces. She also took the jeweled belt and strapped a sword to each side as it was designed. In an afterthought, she also picked up the helm and tucked it under her arm.

Thorin watched amazed as Beth pulled on the garments. When she turned to him at last, he seemed to lose his breath at the vision standing before him.

Smaug was right. She was a treasure.

* * *

"Dear me!" grumbled Bilbo. "More walking and more climbing without breakfast! I wonder how many breakfasts, and other meals, we have missed inside this nasty clockless, timeless hole?"

The decision to make it to a watch tower was made before Thorin and Beth even arrived. It would be safer, and a good vantage point for spotting the dragon when he came back. Unfortunately, it was a five hour trek to get there and Bilbo was right: they had not had breakfast yet. Beth's stomach growled in a timely fashion and she blushed despite herself.

"Come, come!" Called Thorin in a cheery voice. He had been awfully cheery since they had met with the group again. In fact, Beth watched Thorin the entire way to them as he grew more and more jovial with each step. It was like watching him being filled with something. A new hope, perhaps. "Don't call my place a nasty hole! You wait till it has been cleaned and redecorated!"

Upon reaching the watch tower (which in Beth's opinion was just a large balcony) Thorin announced that they would be doing no more travelling for that day despite Dori's unease. Beth and Bilbo both flopped where they stood, unable to go anymore without rest or food.

Although none of them could stop wondering…where was the dragon?

* * *

Beth learned some very interesting news while they were camped out in the watch tower: apparently here the ravens could speak. And speak they did! Just as the thrush that was bothering them flew off, he came back with a very old (sorry looking) raven.

And the raven spoke. "O Thorin son of Thrain, Balin son of Fundin, and the esteemed King's Council" he croaked. Beth wondered how a bird could have known who she was. "I am Rac son of Carc. Carc is dead, but he was well known to you once. It is a hundred years and three and fifty since I came out of the egg, but I do not forget what my father told me. Now I am the chief of the great ravens of the Mountain. We are few, but we remember still the king that was of old. Most of my people are abroad, for there are great tidings in the South - some are tidings of joy to you, and some you will not think so good. Behold! The birds are gathering back again to the Mountain and to Dale from South and East and West, for word has gone out that Smaug is dead!"

"Dead! Dead?" exclaimed Balin. "Dead! Then we have been in needless fear-and the treasure is ours!"

The raven, however, continued his tale. He told of Bard who had slain the dragon with a black arrow (which seemed to awe Balin). He also told the company that a host of elves and men from the lake were travelling up to the mountain looking for the wealth that lay inside.

Beth offered some crumbs for the birds from the remnants of their breakfast. "Thank you, Rac. You and your people shall not be forgotten."

"None of this treasure shall be stolen while I still draw breath," growled Thorin. "I beg of you, if any of your people are still young and strong send word to our kin in the north and the Iron Hills. Inform them of our plight and make haste!"

The birds flew off and Beth narrowed her eyes at Thorin. She shot Balin a look and the older dwarf seemed to know exactly what to do. He ushered the rest of the company back into the mountain upon Thorin's request to rebuild the gate. As Thorin himself was about to depart Beth grabbed his arm firmly.

"We have to talk," she ground out between her clenched teeth.

"Very well then," he replied. "Talk."

Beth pursed her lips in annoyance. A day ago he was at her feet practically begging for forgiveness and now he acted as though being around her was a chore. "You do realize you promised the people of Lake Town a share of the treasure? And you owe it to them, especially seeing as they took care of our dragon problem for us."

"I will not have them steal—"

"It's not stealing Thorin!" She cried, cutting him off. "It's paying back what you owe. What is wrong with you? I'm getting whiplash trying to keep up with your mood swings!" Thorin glowered at her, but said nothing. Beth sighed in defeat. "Look, my official advice as the King's Council: Don't make undue enemies with your greed. As your lover…get a grip."


	11. Thieves In the Night

Before long men and elves were camped out at the foot of the mountain, unable to get in due to the huge rock wall erected by the dwarves. _So much for a gate, _thought Beth, _this is a glorified barricade. _And it wasn't long after _that _that Bard had come up to try and convince Thorin to come down and Parlay. Beth rolled her eyes at that one too. If she wasn't trying to avoid Thorin she would have called down to Bard that it was no use trying to reason with the dwarvish king. She had tried many times those first few days cooped up in the mountain, and when all she received was stubbornness and denial she simply stopped trying and distanced herself. _The hobbits deserve the wealth and love I can bestow more anyway, _she sulked.

And many more days passed within the mountain still. The dwarves occupied their time mostly in the treasure room when they weren't posted on watch. It seemed to Beth that Thorin had forgotten all about her in his quest to find the Arkenstone in the glittering room. He hadn't tried to talk to her once since the day the Raven spoke to them.

At this moment in time, Beth had come to relieve Bilbo from his duty on watch. The days had gotten very cold indeed and she didn't want to leave poor Bilbo (who she knew hated the cold) out in the wind. As she approached, she noticed Bilbo playing with a small shiny object before slipping it into his vest pocket. Determined to find out what he had been hiding since Mirkwood (or even before), Beth marched forward with her game face on.

Bilbo, who was feeling more guilty about the fact he had the Arkenstone jumped to conclusions when he saw his sister marching forward with a face that demanded answers. And at the exact moment Beth asked, "What have you got in your pocket?" Bilbo exclaimed, "Don't be angry!"

Both siblings were silent, staring at each other. And again at the exact same time Bilbo said, "Oh, you want to know what's in my pocket!" and Beth asked, "Why should I be angry?"

Again silent. Beth narrowed her eyes. "Bilbo," she said in a voice that warned of trouble, "What have you got in your pocket? And why should I be angry with you?"

Bilbo swallowed. He had done it this time. "I, uh, well you see, I have this ring in my pocket," he stuttered. "And it's why I've been able to get out of so much trouble and keep disappearing. You see, I can literally disappear."

Beth blinked, taking in the response she had clearly not expected. "So that's how you got out of the troll cave?" she asked.

"Yes," Bilbo answered. "That's where I found it, actually."

Beth scrunched her face up and waved it off stating, "I don't want to know. And that's how you snuck into the elves palace?"

"Yes," Bilbo answered again. Really, he was hoping she'd forget the second question all together.

"Okay," Beth nodded. "Um, cool. You have a super power." She shook her head, doubting Bilbo would get the reference. "And uh, why should I be mad at you again?"

Bilbo paled. "Um, alright, I may have sort of taken the Arkenstone."

Their eyes locked. Bilbo couldn't read her face and started sweating, waiting for the worst. He almost fainted when she smiled.

"Bilbo," she grinned, "you're a genius." Beth plopped down beside him on the ground. "And a real thief as well!" she teased.

Bilbo let out a sigh of relief. "I thought you were going to kill me!" he exclaimed.

"Why?" Beth asked laughing.

"Well, you know," said Bilbo timidly. "It's sort of been keeping your boyfriend occupied and away from you."

Beth's face darkened and Bilbo felt bad for saying anything at all. "No, that's not your fault," she told him, "if it weren't the Arkenstone he was looking for, he'd just be down there looking at everything else."

Bilbo lowered his head. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Bilbo," Beth sighed. "I knew it was too good to be true anyway. And hey, this way I can still go home with you! We can be spinsters together!" Bilbo smiled a little, but the look in his eye told her how much he worried. "Don't worry, Bilbo. I know a lost cause when I see one."

The siblings sat in solidarity for a moment. Beth reached into the coat she had on and took out the starlight necklace and pulled it out for Bilbo to see. He looked at the necklace and back up to her with a wide grin on his face, having seen the spectacle she put on with Thranduil.

"It looks like we've both gotten pretty good at our jobs," he joked.

Beth grinned wickedly. "Then how's about we disappear like thieves in the night?"

* * *

"I will take your turn for you, if you like," Bilbo offered Bombur. "There is no sleep in me tonight."

Their plan was simple. Take some poor, unsuspecting dwarf's watch duty (Bombur seemed like their best bet tonight) and climb down the rope ladder to give the men something to bargain with. But they only had five hours.

Bless Bombur for this need of comforts. "You are a good fellow, Mr. Baggins, and I will take your offer kindly. If there should be anything to note, rouse me first, mind you! I will lie in the inner chamber to the left, not far away," he announced, making his departure.

Beth waited for Bombur to become unseen before she ran out onto the balcony with the rope ladder rolled up in her arms. The siblings made quick work of securing it and getting a move on getting down. They had hoped the cover of night would be enough to shield them from view too early. Beth made her way down first, gently lowering herself into the pool at the bottom and looked up to see Bilbo almost all the way down himself. Except when Bilbo turned his head to look where he was going, his hand slipped and he fell into the pond, making an audible splash. Beth face-palmed.

Some guards came to investigate the noise. "Maybe it was a fish?" one offered.

"That was no fish!" another said. "There is a spy about. Hide your lights! They will help him more than us, if it is that queer little creature that is said to be their servant."

Beth couldn't help herself and laughed out loud, attracting the attention of the guards. "They called you a servant!" she said between giggles.

"We're right here if you want us," Bilbo called, rolling his eyes.

"Who are you?" the first one demanded.

"I am Mr. Bilbo Baggins, and this is my sister Beth," Bilbo introduced, "companions of Thorin, if you want to know," he added.

Beth stepped up. "Good elves, your king knows me, and Bard is familiar with the both of us. We would be grateful if you could take us to them and maybe get us in front of a warm fire to dry off by."

And so that is how, two hours later, Beth and Bilbo were huddled under blankets in front of a fire, with a king of man and a king of elves staring at them. "Really, you know," Bilbo began explaining, "things are impossible. I'm tired of this whole affair."

"And so the King's Council graces us with her presence to tell us how to fix things," drawled Thranduil, clearly still holding a dislike for her upon their previous encounter.

Beth glared at him and stood up, ignoring the look of recognition on Bard's face. "As a matter of fact, yes," she stated. "We need everyone's cooperation in this. Thorin is quite ready to sit up on that pile of gold until he starves." Thranduil began to open his mouth. "But wait!" she exclaimed dramatically. "'Let him!' You say?" The elven king glared at her. "I feel you; I really do. And that would probably just solve all our problems." Both the king's eyebrows shot up in shock, knowing her for being romantically involved with the person she was speaking about. "But," she continued, "dwarves from other lands are coming to aid him. And I'm sure it's a chore to keep these armies of yours fed all the way up here. So, to ensure everyone's cooperation, we bring gifts."

Bilbo stood to join her, quite amused by her sass show to Thranduil. In truth, Bilbo was quite pleased that the position of power seemed to be getting to Beth's head. It brought out a fire in her he admired deeply and he knew she often supressed.

"For you," she said to Thranduil, pulling the necklace out of her pocket and reaching her hand out for him to accept. The elven king reached out his hand with a look of pure awe on his face and accepted the jewels. "They're really yours anyway. And I figured it'd keep you happy and cooperative."

Thranduil bowed his head in thanks and she turned to address Bard, waving Bilbo forward. "And for you, a bargaining chip."

A collective intake of breath was heard as Bilbo pulled the Arkenstone out of his pocket. Bard reached out to take it and he looked to Beth in reverence. "You are very brave to come up with a plan like this," he told her.

"Well, it wasn't all my idea," she admitted. "Bilbo stole the damned thing to begin with. He's also the one who suggested we give it to you."

"Bilbo Baggins!" Bard said. "You are more worthy to wear the armour of elf-princes than many that may have looked more comely in it."

Bilbo blushed and replied, "Well, thank you very much. But, um, would you happen to know what happened to our other companions? The dwarves that we left behind."

Bard nodded. "They are good and well, all four. They traveled here with the elf prince and a fierce elf maiden with fiery hair. We can take you to see them. I'm sure they'd be pleased to see you two."

"Oh, no, I really must go back. I even promised to wake poor Bombur at midnight!" he exclaimed.

"I'll stay," Beth offered.

Bilbo paled. "Uhhhm, is that really such a good idea?"

Beth scoffed. "If you're thinking Thorin will notice and be angry, I'll remind you he hasn't noticed I've been alive and breathing at all these past few days anyway. Besides," she huffed, "what use is it being the King's Council if I can't hang with any king I choose at any time? If Thorin wants to know what happened you can tell him I took the rope ladder down and marched my way down the mountain. And that he can shove it."

Bard guffawed at Beth's speech and Thranduil even smirked a little. "Right, well," Bilbo said. "I won't tell him that last part, but you're right and…send my well wishes, of course."

"Of course I will!" she said. "Now off with you, before you get into more trouble."

"You know it's probably your fault I've seen all this trouble to begin with," grumbled Bilbo.

He was led off my a couple guards and she watched as a tall man is grey robes stopped Bilbo for a quick word. The more she watched him, the more familiar he looked.

It came to her just as the man finished with Bilbo and began wandering off. "Gandalf!" she called.

The wizard lifted his head and smiled, also making his way over to her. "My dear girl!" he greeted. "It's lovely to see you whole and mostly unscathed. I should have expected you'd come down here with Bilbo."

"Of course!" she laughed. "You knew this whole time, didn't you?"

"Well, not the whole time," the wizard humbly corrected.

"Sure," she snorted. "Now where's Fili and Kili and Bofur and Oin? Surely you know where they're hiding!"

Gandalf smiled and nodded, leading her through the maze of tents and camp fires to a spot a little further down the mountain. Beth had no problem spotting the four dwarves and a red haired elf around a small fire of their own. She grinned at Gandalf and pressed a finger to her lips, shifting her path to get right behind the Durin brothers.

The elf woman and Oin spotted her behind the brothers but made no indication she noticed anything with another silencing signal from Beth. In a quick motion she threw her arms around their shoulders and popped up between them. "Did you miss me?" she asked cheekily.

"BETH!" they cried, and in both going to hug her at the same time, the trio topped over and backwards in a fit of laughter with only Bofur to assist them up again. When he did Beth tackled Bofur in a hug of his own.

"You all had me so worried!" she confessed. "I thought Smaug did away with you all!"

"Ah yes," Bofur smiled. "You wouldn't have had anything to do with that, would you?"

Beth cleared her throat awkwardly. "I may have had something to do with it, but if I'm going to be honest it was probably more Bilbo than me. Anyway!" she chirped. "Why don't you introduce me to your lovely lady elf friend?"

The elf in question was smiling at their display and bowed lightly. "I am Tauriel, My Lady. It is an honour to meet you."

Beth smiled but rolled her eyes. "Nothing they've told you is true. Except for the prophesy part, unfortunately. How did you come to travel with my friends?"

"She saved me," Kili answered for her. "She used her elf magic to heal me from the poisoned arrow."

"She was also one of our guards in Thranduil's palace," Oin added, obviously less impressed with the woman.

Beth shook her head at Oin. "Well then thank you for saving my friend."

Tauriel nodded but said nothing and the group resettled by the fire. "What news from inside the mountain?" asked Fili.

"Nothing good, I can tell you that," grumbled Beth, shaking her head. "Most of the dwarves do little else than play with gold all day and Thorin hasn't even so much as looked at me in almost a week. He's obsessed with finding the Arkenstone." The Durin siblings shared a look that Beth caught. "What? What's wrong?" she asked.

"It could be nothing," Kili offered Fili.

"But mum said—"

"What?!" cried Beth. "Your mum said what?"

"Mum told us some years ago about a sickness that lives in our family," Fili told her. "The gold sickness drove our great, great grandfather insane with greed. She said that it even started showing in her father before he, well, went missing. Maybe Thorin…"

_Well that explains everything, actually, _thought Beth.

A tense silence fell over the fire before Beth nodded. "I should go speak more to Thranduil and Bard. We're going to need a damned good plan of action if we're going to make Thorin see through his gold coloured glasses."


	12. Home

Beth was probably going to lose her shit. Thorin had flat out refused to trade for the Arkenstone because it was _stolen_ and _his anyway_ and he _did not believe he should trade for it_. Dain's army had arrived and the three races were trying to parlay. Only it wasn't going so well. Why did people always have to fight over things live overgrown toddlers? _Why can't we all just get along?_

And suddenly both sides were charging at each other, the elves and men versus the dwarven host. Beth sighed, and started glumly marching forward as bodies ran around her into the action. Gandalf was beside her and the pair noticed a rapid darkness creeping into the sky.

"Gandalf, what is that?" she asked worriedly.

Gandalf did not answer her but called out in a demanding voice "Halt!" When the armies continued marching forward he projected again, "HALT."

A shock wave burst from him, stumbling the armies and making them pay attention. Beth supposed he must have used his wizard magic to project his speech. "Dread has come upon you all! Alas! It has come more swiftly than I guessed. The Goblins are upon you! Bolg of the North is coming. O Dain, whose father you slew in Moria, behold! The bats are above his army like a sea of locusts. They ride upon wolves and wargs are in their train!"

The armies looked up in confusion and dread, watching the sky blacken and a dark force rise over the horizon towards them. _Well, if anything can unite them all, this is it, _Beth reasoned. In a move of bravery (stupidity, she'd call it later), Beth pulled one of the swords off her side (because, let's face it, she had no idea how to use two at the same time) and let out a battle cry so fierce it surprised everyone who saw her do it. She charged forward to the oncoming force of evil as they had been charging before. The act seemed to shake the soldiers out of their stupor and inspired, charged forward with her.

It was during this great, terrible battle that Beth learned she knew very little about fighting indeed and was very glad for her swiftness and Mithril armour. During the whole thing she had been scared out of her mind and had worked on only keeping herself alive. She had no idea where Bilbo was, or any of her other friends for that matter. At some point she had fallen back far enough that she was relatively close to the mountain again. She saw some dwarves come out of the mountain and felt her heart rate spike at the thought of even more of her friends being in danger.

"The eagles are coming!" the crowd around her started to cheer. She looked up herself to see in the sky their feathered allies indeed on their way to save them. She couldn't help but grin. Maybe she would get to see her eagle friend again.

With renewed vigour, Beth leapt forwards in determination to find _anyone _she knew, if only for her own piece of mind. But in her quest to find a familiar face, she spotted an unfriendly one first. The white head of Azog loomed over a figure…Thorin's figure, to be precise. Beth started running forwards but watched in horror as Thorin was knocked down, seemingly having the wind forced out of his lungs. The moment Azog lifted the club above his head to swing at Thorin Beth leapt forward to close the remaining distance between them and managed to slice into the uruk's side, effectively buying Thorin enough time to get out of the way.

Beth had the wind knocked out of her as well, falling on her stomach from flying through the air to deliver her attack. Azog was glaring at her before she could even scramble up and away.

"YOU!" he hollered and swung his club at her. Beth screamed and rolled away just in time to avoid the crushing blow, tripping over herself in an attempt to get back on her feet. That was a thing she learned today: your chances are better if you're on your feet. Thorin chose this moment to pounce on Azog, effectively stabbing him in the stomach while he was distracted. Beth didn't get to see what happened however, as she was engaged by another enemy trying to take her head off.

It felt to Beth as though they had been fighting for days and her body, mind, and heart felt wearier every time she caught sight of a corpse as she struggled to save her own life. Suddenly she felt shock course through her as her shoulders were gripped and she was hoisted up into the air and dropped unceremoniously onto the back of an eagle.

"This is not quite how I had hoped our next meeting would go," the eagle under her confessed.

"Oh, thank goodness!" Beth cried, leaning her body on his back. "I was beginning to wonder if I'd live to see you again!"

"You did look in need of assistance," he told her.

"I do!" she laughed. "Now come on, we have to find my friends and make sure they're not in too much trouble. Your keen eyes should spot them!"

And that's how Beth spent the rest of the Battle of Five Armies—on the back of a giant eagle which she would later find out was the one and only King of Eagles. He aided her in finding her friends, and swooping in to take out any opposing force they had been dealing with. There was even a very close encounter with all three of the Durin's that they had managed to rectify not a second too soon.

Beorn himself arrived to finish the battle, arriving in his bear form and clearing the field of enemies faster than anything she had ever seen. Only one thing truly troubled her.

She never was able to spot Bilbo.

* * *

When their victory became apparent, the eagle let Beth down in the middle of what she could only describe as total chaos. She thanked her eagle friend again and bid him to see his own people. And then she turned and took in the carnage.

It was more gruesome than any horror movie she had ever seen. It smelled worse than anything she had ever been in the middle of before. It was more theatrical and huge and awful than any war time painting that had ever been made. Hundreds of bodies littered the hills in a random mix of men and elves and dwarves and goblins and orcs and limbs and puddles. Endless. Some survivors still in the area shuffled aimlessly, others finding and aiding the wounded. Beth knew if she didn't continue to help, she'd end up one of those aimless souls who were only there to search for the bodies of those they knew and loved.

Spotting a pair of men holding a stretcher, the hobbit ran over to them, taking note that one of them was the guard who had found her and Bilbo their first night in the camp. She was both relieved and unnerved that the dwarf on the stretcher was one she didn't recognise.

"Hey!" she called, "wait up!"

"My lady," greeted the guard. "I'm glad to have found you. We have orders to find you and your brother immediately."

Beth straightened, worrying. "Why?"

"King Thorin," the guard began. "He—"

Beth cut him off. "Where is he?" she asked suddenly.

The man had barely enough time to point her in the right direction before the girl fled towards the tent he was pointing at in the distance. Beth, assuming the worst, used the last bit of energy she had in her to propel herself forward faster than she had ever run in her life; faster than when she had been running from a dragon, even. When she reached the tent she took no time to push her way inside and found it quite a bit more crowded than she had anticipated. Though undeterred, she shoved through until she saw the back of the tent.

And like her worst nightmare coming true, Fili and Kili stood at the foot of the cot Thorin lay on with sullen expressions on their faces. And there was Thorin, pale as a ghost and unmoving. She was stopped dead in her tracks, feeling like all the air had been pushed out of her lungs all at once.

Kili looked up at the sound of her forced exhale and opened his mouth. A huge gash covered the right side of his face from his nose to his earlobe and he was covered in gore. Fili looked up to see what his brother had spotted and relief washed over his face. He too was covered in blood but aside from his arm in a sling, she could see no extreme marks on him. Fili walked forward to embrace her, but ended up catching her with his one good arm as she crumbled, Kili coming to their aid.

Her face must have displayed her obvious anguish because she found herself being held by Kili (who had use of both his arms) as she trembled. "I—I'm so glad you're alive," she managed to squeeze out even though the tears had already started streaming down her face. "I—I still don't know where Bilbo is," she confessed, her voice raising slightly in pitch trying not to full on sob. "I don't think I could have taken your losses as well as Thorin." And then she started bawling.

Beth had been sandwiched in between the two dwarves in a ring of comfort and she cried freely into Kili's shoulder. She wasn't wailing like a banshee, thankfully, but her nose did start running and she was shaking worse than a house broken chihuahua.

"I'm not dead yet. You can't get rid of me that easily." The voice made her head snap up fast enough to butt Kili in the jaw and make him stumble back, leaving Beth to crumple to her knees in front of Thorin's cot. The dwarven king turned his head to look at her (his head was one of the few things he could move without hurting), as she sat stunned on the floor beside him.

After a moment of stunned silence and staring straight into his eyes she scrambled to her knees and almost threw herself at him before she realized he was probably in a delicate state. She settled for awkwardly kneeling in front of him and grasping the one hand he had reached out to her. Neither of them could find words, instead basking in the comfort of the other's presence. Fili and Kili, sensing the intimacy of the moment, departed to hopefully find their other hobbit.

"You're hurt," Thorin said finally.

Beth couldn't help the laugh that bubbled up in her throat at the irony. Sure, she had sustained her fair share of cuts and bruises. She was sure the reason she couldn't open her left eye was because it was swollen shut and probably purple. Not to mention the multitude of cuts littering her skin, all superficial but painful nonetheless. She was sure the combination of her strong armour and her swiftness was the only reason she was still alive. That, and she didn't attract much attention after her diamonds had been covered with blood.

"I'm fine," she said softly.

"I was wrong."

She sniffed, with tears streaming down her face. The last time they had this conversation it was Beth they all thought they had lost. "I know," she choked out.

"I broke my promise," he said.

"I know," she whimpered again, burying her face in the hands that held Thorin's.

"You saved me," he whispered. "Twice." When Beth didn't raise her head, he continued. "Once on the back of a great eagle, like what the songs will say some day." She giggled a little through her sniffles. "And once before that, when you left me in the mountain." Beth looked up at that remark, confusion plain on her face as she searched his eyes. "I nearly lost myself to the gold, and for that I have no way to tell you how sorry I am. But I did lose myself when Bilbo told us you left. It took me losing you to realize what was truly important in this world and I am ashamed it took me so long to realize it."

Beth sniffed again at the thought of not knowing where Bilbo was. "Did he cower?" she asked.

Thorin smirked a little. "No, you would have been proud at the speech he gave me. He let me know I was being a right troll and how you leaving was all my fault. I've never seen the poor hobbit so worked up." His smirk dropped into a sullen frown. "He loves you and cares for you very much. I will not be offended if you decide to leave for home with him when this is all done."

Beth took her time, effectively making Thorin nervous. "Do you love me?" she finally asked.

"Yes," he answered without hesitation.

Beth searched his eyes and face for any hint of a lie or uncertainty but all she saw was pure determination and, well, love. "Well then I'm already home," she told him.

* * *

By the time Bilbo was found out in the battlefield (still invisible. No wonder he hadn't been found sooner!) and brought to the medical tent, the night had passed and the sun was shining again. Bilbo thought it sort of looked like a mockery to all the gore that still covered the slopes and hills. Gandalf took Bilbo to the medical tent, and Bilbo feared the worst.

Of course, he was met by the best possible sight he could have imagined. Well, not best, but certainly better than what he had been imagining. Among a few bustling helpers tending to the wounded, Bilbo spotted the cot tucked into the back corner of the medical tent. Beth was sitting up, her back supported by nothing but a tent pole and her head drooped slightly to one side in sleep. Thorin was also on the cot, his head rested comfortably in her lap. Their armour was strewn onto the floor and Bilbo could see some of the damage done to their persons, including the black eye Beth was sporting, but they were both alive and breathing.

Bilbo let out his own breath of relief he hadn't realized he was holding. Beth opened her eyes at the unfamiliar sound and blinked until they were focused.

"Bilbo?" she asked, seemingly unsure.

The hobbit needed no more coaxing and he rushed to embrace his sister, both of them careful not to disturb the sleeping king. They pulled back, grinning at each other from ear to ear. Beth reached out and pinched his ear.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"You know very well what," she said sharply.

Bilbo rolled his eyes but couldn't help but smile. "Yes, yes, never scare you like that again. I'm sorry, but we happened to be fighting a war and I couldn't exactly be in plain sight, you know."

Beth sighed heavily and was about to concede when Thorin asked hoarsely from the tendrils of sleep, "Mr. Baggins?"

"Ye—yes?" Bilbo asked, still weary of the dwarf since he has cast him out of the mountain.

"Thank you," Thorin stated simply.

A change seemed to come over Bilbo and Beth watched in awe as he seemed to straighten and gain a confidence unfounded in him before. "You're welcome. Despite past arguments, I can genuinely say I am glad to have been part of this adventure. It is more than any Baggins deserves."

"No," said Thorin. "There is more good and bravery in you than you know. Some courage and some wisdom, blended in measure. If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world. And I strive to be more like you, Bilbo Baggins."

_Oh no. _She was going to cry. Some tears welled up in Bilbo's eyes as well and her lip trembled. But he didn't let any of the drops spill and said, "Well, you'll have Beth to keep you on the right track."

"Yes," Thorin answered, looking up at her. "It is more than I deserve."

Beth sniffled and shook her head. "I'm not going to argue that."

* * *

The days following were long and full of hard labour for those able to help. Men, elves, and dwarves alike spent their hours moving bodies to one of the great funeral pyres scattered amongst the hills. Already inside the mountain, dwarves had set to work restoring the great halls and homes of Erebor and Beth saw to it personally that the treasure had been appropriately divided and handed out. Thorin slowly became stronger, but the great wound along his back made moving a difficult task.

After the second day, Beth had given up correcting those who called her "My Queen" and begrudgingly accepted the title that she'd later be forced to wear anyway. She spent countless tireless hours arranging a truce between the elves and dwarves, assisting Bard with his plans to reconstruct Dale, and overseeing everything that had to do with the kingdom.

_Her kingdom._

There was always time, however, to find Thorin before her weariness caught up to her. So slipping into the newly restored royal chambers and into the plush bed had become ritual. He accepted her into his arms and pulled her as close as his fragile body allowed. She snuggled into his warmth with a sigh and buried her face into his neck.

"Do you think I'll ever get used to it?" she asked him.

Thorin didn't need to be told what she was asking about. In fact, it was he who encouraged her to take the reins and guide their people. He had no doubts she was doing a spectacular job. "You have a natural ability to lead," he told her. "But I still see you squirm every time someone calls you queen."

"It just sounds so haughty," she defended.

Thorin chuckled, planting a quick kiss on her forehead. "Just imagine when they have our kingdom remade. You will have to wear fancy dresses and mingle with the upper class and delegates," he teased. Thorin chuckled as her face scrunched up. "I jest. You will need to do these things, of course, but I have no doubt in my mind you will do so in a manner that quite suits you."

"It's almost done," she told him after a moment. "The bodies are burned, accounts are settled, Erebor is almost restored. The elves and men are leaving tomorrow morning. Dwarves from the Blue Mountains are travelling back to their home. Our adventure is over, Thorin."

"No," he corrected her with a kiss. "This quest is over, and I am glad to see it done. Our adventure, my treasure, had only just begun."


End file.
